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to 


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premiere  page  qui  comporta  un-^  empreinte 
d'impression  ou  d'illustration  at  en  terminant  par 
la  darniire  page  qui  comporte  une  telle 
empreinte. 

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darniAre  image  de  chaque  microfiche,  selon  le 
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et  de  haut  en  bas,  en  prenant  le  nombre 
d'images  nAcessaire.  Las  diagrammes  suivants 
illustrent  la  mAthoda. 


1 

2 

3 

1 

2 

3 

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Up 


e/yozt/uoest 
COUeeUorv 


HO] 


IN 


SPEECH 


or 


HON.  C.  ASHLEY,  OF  ARKANSAS, 


Off 


THE  OREGON  QUESTION. 


A    .  DBUrBRKD 


IN  THE  SENATE  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES,  FRIDAY,  APRIL  3,  1846. 


•Mk. 


WASHINGTON: 

PRINTED  AT  THE  OFFICE  OF  BLAIR  AND  RIVB8. 
1846. 


I  ,    . 


{  ,''   .    <• ' 


U  1  ^  ^(.i 


"■*  ;  (  i :?."•:  .:-./ 


Thfi  Joint 
ininntc  t 
nnd  Ore 
tory,  Ik- 
Mi-.  AS 
Mr.  Fri 
■one  could 
10  throw  II 
lliirif;  new 
ate  at  thi.s 
I  could  ho| 
old  iirjftuii 
remilts  of 
shall,  of'cc 
nnd  artcmi 
not  sufTicie 
iV.ol  myHell 
of  a  Moverf 
tion  so  mo 
involving  t 
most  powf 
vauntinjjiy 
myself  cot 
which  will 
propositioi 
.strength  u 
rcRuonHibli 
in  the  di 
have  bcrn  i 
«Kogetlier 
Willi  its  ni 
the  iaulatec 
fore  lis,  it  t 
ly  uny  difl 
rourse  wh 
r|uc.stion  o 
a)s;o  been  d 
hud  anxj  d 
There  are, 
•houj^h  not 
fore  us,  it  i 
the  United 
Governmei 
weigh:  sue 
ted  H8  like 
templated 
ably  follow 
would  reqt 
vicwofsui 


.    r 

I  i 


THE  OREGON  QUESTION. 


The  Joint  Rrsoluiion  for  civing  the  notice  to  ter  I      Thus  far  it  mip;lu  br,  proper  to  go  beyond  the  in- 
minntc  the  oonvention  between  the  ITniteil  States    trinsic  merits  of  the  question  before  the  Senate;  and 


nnd  Great  Britain,  rchttive  to  the  Oregon  Terri- 
tory, l)eing  under  consideration —  1 

Mr.  ASHLEY  addressed  the  Senate  as  follows:  ; 

Mr.  Frf.sidk.nt:  I  can  scarcely  hone,  indeed  no  i 

■one  could  reasonably  exf)cct,  that  1  .should  be  able  I 

10  throw  much  additional  light,  or  to  advance  any-  i 

thing  new  on  the  iinporuint  subject  before  the  Sen-  i 

;ite  at  this  late  singe  of  its  discussion.   The  utmost  : 

1  could  h()pc  to  d<\  would  be,  to  present  some  of  the  I 

t>ld  arjfdiiK^nta  under  a  new  guise,  and  slate  the  i 

re8\ilia  of  those  nrgumentH  on  my  own  mind.     I  ! 

shall,  of  course,  be  liable  to  present  miiiiy  tlin'iglits  i 

?  and  arcuineiils  in  a  manner  somewhat  crude,  and  | 

I  not  sufFiciently  matured.    He  tliat  as  it  may,  1  do  not  | 


feel  myself  justified,  as  one  of  the  representatives 
of  a  sovereign  State,  to  give  a  silent  vote  on  a  oucs- 
tion  HO  momentous,  which  may  possibly  result  in 
involving  the  peace  of  tliis  country  with  one  of  the 
most  powerful  nations  of  the  earth,  as  England  is 
vauntingly  represented  in  this  chamber,  but  feel 
myself  conscientiously  bound  to  give  the  reasons 
which  wUl  govern  my  own  vole  on  the  various 
propositions  now  under  coiisiderHtioii,  and  for  the 
strength  and  correctness  of  which  I  hold  myself 
resuonsible  to  my  constituents. 

In  the  disc\ission  of  this  quosiion.  various  topics 
I  iiave  been  introduced,  which,  in  my  judgment,  were 
altogether  ii  relevant,  and  have  really  notliing  to  do 
Willi  its  inerit.s.  If  we  had  confined  ourselves  to 
the  isolated  question  legitimately  and  properly  be* 
fore  us,  it  appears  to  me  that  there  could  be  scarce- 
ly any  diti'erence  of  .sentiment  as  to   ihe 


I  cannot  assent  to  the  propriety  of  introducing  any- 
thing else.     Notwithstanding  many  irrelevant  and 
extraneous  matters  have  been  brought  into  this  dis- 
cussion, (which  I  should  not  have  introduced  my- 
si;lf,)  yet,  having  been  frequently  referred  to,  and 
commented  on,  in  the  previous  debate,  I  am  un- 
willing to  pass  in  silence,  lest  the  Democratic  party 
should  be  subjected  to  wrong  constructions,  and 
imputations  wholly  gratuitous  and  un'bunded,  and 
our  silence  adduced  i\s  evidence  of  the  justness  of 
the  allegations  in.ide,  and  inferences  dcuuced  from 
them  by  our  Whig  friends  on  the  other  side  of  the 
chamber.     One  of  these  irrelevant  matters,  which 
hu.f  inn.st  surprised  me,  is  the  introduction  into  this 
-hambcr  and  thi.s  deliaic  of  the  doings  of  the  1^1- 
timore  convention;  and  I  have  been  yet  more  sur- 
1  prised  at  a  charge  made  by  an  honorable  Senator 
!  from  Virginia,  on  the  other  side  of  the  chamber, 
I  [Mr.  .\rciibii,]  that  the  convention  and  its  intro- 
duction here  w.is  the  result  of  Jacohiaism;  and  not 
!  to  misrepresent  the  remark  of  the  gentleman,  I  beg 
I  leave  to  read  from  his  pulilished  speech  a  short  ex- 
tract.    Hes,ays: 

I  "The  aulliiihty  iif  t!ic  Bnltiniorc  convention  had  been 
I  openly  iiivolovl  in  tlie  di^'iisHioti.  lut  one  of  the  nppronriiue 
I  iiicniis  tn  inrtiimice  it.  Il  wnt  proper  that  the  people  xhould 
I  be  iniiile  iu'i|uaiiited  with  the  t'aci,  Hiid  with  the  fearftil  bcar- 
I  iiig  of  tliis  iipixml.  Tim  B.iltiiiioro  convention  !  What  won 
,'  il?  Tin-  aiitlinrity  of  an  iisfiiioiaiion  unknown  tn  tlic  iiisti- 
'  oitiniiH  lit"  Ihe  eountrv,  niiide  the  miliject  of  iipi>cal  to  control 
'  ilie  legislation  of  the  country  !  Tlii<  liody,  n'lilly  sclf-ap- 
I  iiointcd,  or  nearly  no,  coiivimiimI  lor  an  alleicrd  specific  object, 
to  c  irry  into  eifccl  lui  a~snuii'd  public  Henliiiit'nt  in  relabon 
to  til  I  obji'cl.  Its  tint  iir^crelin.;  had  bi^cn  to  dincard  the 
a.linilti'd  public  Hcntiionnt  which  it  piirportc.l  to  have  met  to 
1  I'lTiH-iuatc.     iLs  notorious  coiirr^c  of  procc-ding  had  been, 


of  .sentiment  as  to   llie   proper 
i-.ourse  which  ought  to  be  adoiited.     The  ainqile 

question  of  notice;  alone,  would  8un;lv  have  long  i  not  .o  r.'ccii-c,  hut  to  make  a  puhlic  sentiment,  in  subrtitu- 
4o  been  determined  upon,  if  all  whobelieved  we  i !;;;;/ ;i;;^lt  ^^^  Hlue^^;l"w;;;;^:;:;i^r /^^^ 
had  any  claims  to  Oregon  had  acted  in  concert.  ,m  of  this  operation.  A  junto.  wiUi  no  authority  of  any 
There  are,  nevcrtheleaa,  some  other  subjects  which,  i  ;  ind,  or  actinn  in  ailmittcd  contradiction  and  violation  of  itt 
'houtrh  not  strictly  connected  with  the  question  be-  1  p.ofcsmd  auU...rity,h.i.lb.^cnsuccc(«.ful  indictatingiuinoiit 
-       ■.  _  '    I       ■  ,<      .1      o       .       <•  I  imnorlanl election  to tlm  country;  and  il-s authority  was  now 

lore  us.  It  may  not  be  improper  (or  the  Senate  of  |  ^„;pu,,c.U  on  the  pr«(tjc  of  ihat  success,  to  dicuitc  the 
the  United  Slates — a  most  imporiunt  branch  ot  the  ;  ii'i^islation  of  the  country  on  a  8ubjcv?t  of  the  most  vital  fm- 
Government — to  look  forward  to,  and  cjireffdly  |  |H)rtance.  Thin  was  tlie  first  opui  avowiU  the  country  had 
weigh:  such  as  the  results  that  might  be  anticipa-  i  ever  known  of  Jj«HMi.;n  in  ii«  halls  of  legi-lauon.  It  war 
led  as  likely  to  spring  out  of  the  giving  the  con- 
templated notice.  If  we  believe  war  will  prob- 
ably follow,  then  prudence  and  sound  wisdom 
would  require  us  to  make  adequate  preparation,  in 
view  of  such  a  contingency.  .  ...... 


1  yel  to  be  Bccn  how  the  avowal  would  be  received." 

It  is  manifest  froin  these  remarks,  tnat  the  Sen- 

I  ator  wishes  to  induce  the  people  to  believe  that 

there  has  been  an  attempt  to  dicbite  to  the  Legis- 

I  latiire,  to  influence  their  decisions  improperly,  and 


i.KJ 


j:i 


to  contrnl  their  nction.ns  llic  colcliriitpd  Jncnbin 
club  of  Paris  did  in  the  diiyn  of  l\\('.  h'rcno.h  Ilrvo- 
lution.  1h  \n'  l>oriii;  out  in  thi.s  tiy  iiiiytiiinf;  tlinl 
h(vs  lrnn.-')iirrd  in  lliisrlmnilxT? — liy  iinythini;  tliat 
has  been  tlonc  out  of  il  ?--l>y  ii.t;  ,\,t«  of  (he  Haiti- 
more  convention  itself,  or  the  Democratic  party, 
whose  delc;;ates  composed  that  convention?  Sir, 
that  convention  was  composed  of  d"l('fi;ateK  from 
all  parts  of  the  Union,  re|>rescntini;  the  will  and 
wishes  of  the  whole  Democracy  of  ihi^  United 
Slates;  possessed  of  hi!;rli  talents,  and  the  full  con- 
fidence of  those  whom  they  represented,  convened 
to  consult  "11  the  common  weal  of  the  jiarty,  and 
to  select  candidates  for  the  Presidency  and  Vice 
Presidency  of  this  jjreat  llepublic,  iliat  shonld 
meet  tlie  wishes  and  carry  out  the  principles  of  the 
Dam;  iTntic  party—  theprincijdes  of  a  Wasliinston, 
a  Jel'l'erson,  a  Madison,  and  a  Jackson — and  well 
did  they  perform  th  ir  duty.  Allow  me,  Mr. 
President,  to  read  iVoiii  ihe  procecdm^N  cif  iliul 
coiivenlion  what  they  did  do  in  relation  lo  the  sub- 
ject now  before  the  Senut".  Mr.  H.  I''.  Hutlcr,  of 
New  York,  otfeiTd  a  series  of  resnlutioii.s  expres- 
sive of  the  sentiments  and  principlrs  of  the  party, 
which  were  unanimously  ado])iid  by  the  conven- 
tion, nmonc^  which,  the  only  one  referriii:;  to  the 
subject  now  under  discussion,  is  the  followiii;;: 

'•/ifjo/cci/,  Tliiit  iMir  title  !■>  ilir'  ivlidlc  of  thf  (crriiiirj  ol" 
Orezon  in  ciciir  mid  iiiii|iic  iioiiiililc  ;  thai  iii>  iinriion  i>l'  thi' 
name  ought  to  he  ceilcil  in  Kiaihiml  ornny  other  I'owit;  ;iiiiI 
Ihnt  tlic  reoci'iipati'Mi  cil' Ongon  ami  Ihc  rciiiiii"\Rli(iii  ol' 
Texaii,  at  the  carliiv'l  (iriictiiabli'  pirhiil,  arc  Krcal  Aiiicricaii 

incaiiured,  which  this  icinviiitiiiii  n iii'iicmiiI.s  to  ihc  conlial 

DUpport  of  the  D-moeracy  of  tlii'  I'liion." 

Was  there  any  Jacobinism  in  this.-  If  so,  in 
what  did  it  c(u^sist  ?  Af^er  a  thoroii^jh  examina- 
tion of  the  whole  proceediiiija  of  that  body,  and  all 
that  has  been  done  .since  under  Iho.scrccoinnienda- 
tions,  in  and  out  of  this  chamber,  I  cmi  find  no 
foundation  for  the  eharne  so  tcruvely  made  by  the 
Senator  from  Virijinia.  This  re.<(oluiion  I  liiive 
read,  contains,  I  thiiilt,  ^ood  sound  doctrine,  and 
recommends  the  reacinipulion  of  Dre^on,  uiid  the 
reanncxation  of  Texas,  as  "reut  .American  meas- 
ures. Is  such  a  reeomiueiiimtion  Jacol)iiiical  -  [f 
it  is,  sir,  a  largre  portion  of  the  .American  (x-oide 
havt  shown  their  love  of  Jacobinism,  by  adoptmjj 
one  of  tho.«  American  measures.  'I'liey  have  al- 
ready reannexed  Texas,  and  have  added[  the  lone 
star  of  that  little  republic  to  our  own  briirht  and 
glorious  constellation;  and  within  a  few  days  past, 
we  have  witnessed  the  full  evidence  of  iiscoii.'!um- 
mation  in  this  chamber.  It  was,  sir,  one  of  the 
proudest  days  of  my  life,  when  I  heard  the  oath  of 
office  administered  to  her  Senators,  and  they  took 
tlicir  scats  in  our  midst  as  the  rejiresentalives  of 
that  young  and  chivalrous  State,  whose  independ- 
ence was  obtained  by  her  sons  on  the  menionible 
field  of  San  Jacinto.  This  resDhition  was  neither 
more  nor  less  than  u  recommendation  of  great  meas- 
ures to  the  Democratic  parly  throughout  the  United 
States;  and  they,  as  I  presume,  will  at  this  day  be 
acknowledged  on  both  sideaof  this  chaml>er  to  con- 
stitute a  large  majority  of  the  people  of  the  United 
States.  I  B<'.c  some  genllemeii  on  the  other  side  of 
the  chamber  shaking  their  heads  at  this  proposi- 
tion. Is  it  not  true, sir.'  Have  \\r  not  tnc  most 
overwhelmin;;;  evidence  of  its  truth?  But  if  they 
will  not  admit  it,  we  can  resort  to  actual  demon- 
stration of  its  trutb.    Look,  sir,  at  the  triumphant 


inaj'irily  by  which  wc  elected  our  Prcmdcnt  ntirf 
Vice  President,  nominaled  by  this  convention,  iit 
opposition  to  the  iilol  of  the  opposite  parly.  Look 
at  the  lar'.,'c  majiirity  of  the  Democratic  party  in 
the  House  of  IlepretH:ntatives;  and  lo(d<  at  this 
body  also,  with  a  majority  against  us  prior  lo  tlu 
4lh  of  March  last,  and  now  haviiif;  a  lai'fje  majority 
on  our  side  of  the  chamber.  Surely  such  evidene( 
is  full  and  complfte,  anil  establishes  my  [iropi^si- 
tioii  too  fully  lo  be  endangered  by  the  shaking  of 
li(  ads  on  the  other  side,  or  the  force  of  argument 
itsi'f  1  deny  that  it  is  Jacobinical;  and  how  its 
intro  bictioii  here  can  lie  called  a  Jacobinical  meas- 
ure, q  lite  passes  my  coinprelunsion.  I  admit  ilH 
inlrodiiciion  was  not  callet!  for  in  this  discussion, 
and  1  thoiild  not  have  introduced  it;  but  introduced 
it  has  been,  and  I  will  now,  therefore,  tell  you  what 
1  do  claim  under  the  authority  of  that  convention. 
Whether  itie  rcsipjniions  there  ndopl'd  bind  the 
whole  Democratic  parly  or  not,  it  is  not  necessary 
to  investigate  or  ('clerminc;  but  I  am  tpiite  sure, 
and  I  believe  the  .Senators  on  the  other  side  of  the 
iliambcr  even,  will  a';iee  wiili  me  that  the  re.sulu- 
tioMs  of  ll'Ti  cdnveiilioii  Ixmntl  the  President  and 
Vice  PrMident  of  the  United  Slates,  actually  electcti 
under  nominations  nuulc  by  it,  nccotnpanied  by 
their  declanvtioii  of  principles — "their  confession 
of  faith."  Long  anterior  lothe  Balliinore  conven- 
tion, Mr.  Polk, as  was  well  known,  had  given  to  the 
world  similar  views  on  the  Oregon  ipu  .•Jtion  to  those 
which  were  presented  in  the  rcsoknion,  (and  simi- 
lar views  to  those  presented  by  the  whole  series  of 
resolutions  adopted  by  thnl  convention,)  and  he  whp 
selected  by  the  convention  for  the  high  office  he 
holdn,  n.i  till!  exponent  of  thcM;  great  principles 
promulgated  to  the  .American  (leople,  and  known' 
to  have  been  in  accordance  with  those  entertniniul 
by  him  previous  lo  Ibe  meeting  of  the  convention. 
I  re|x^at,  sir,  the  President  and  Vice  President  were 
bound  to  carry  out  those  princi[ile»,  by  having  ac- 
cepted the  nomination  of  the  convention  that  had 
at  the  time  declared  them;  hound,  sir,  as  much  ns 
an  elector  for  President  and  Vice  President  i.«t  to 
cast  his  vote  in  favor  of  the  person  whom  he  had 
pledged  himself  to  support  when  he  ofl'cred  him- 
self lo  the  people  as  a  candidate  for  their  sulFiages. 
The  resolution,  tlii'ii,  does  but  embody  doctrine" 
and  sentiments  which  Mr.  Polk  put  forlh  imlilicly 
long  before  the  convention  was  held,  and  which, 
indeed,  he  liad  idways  avowed.  He  claimed  the 
whole  of  Oregon  as  strongly  as  even  the  8eiuitor 
from  Miuaouri  [Mr.  Benton]  did  in  18^5  and 
l><4:i.  He  look  tins  ground  in  public  addresses,  a;id 
published  it  to  the  wliole  United  Stales.  When 
the  convention  was  called,  they  proclaimed  the 
same  principl'S'  and,  as  representing  the  Demi>c- 
rucy  of  this  Union,  they  called  upon  him,  ns  their 
nominee,  to  e«rry  their  principles  into  action.  If 
he,  after  thal^  accejited  their  nominal  ion,  he  is 
mo.st  assuredly  bound  by  their  resolulions.  He 
gave  his  bond  to  the  American  people.  I  hope  the 
gentlemen  on  the  other  side  will  all  agree  with  ine, 
that  whoever  else  may  or  may  not  be  bound  by 
the  acts  of  that  convention,  those  whom  the  con- 
vention nominated  as  candidates,  and  whom  the 
people  afterwards  elected,  were  undeniably  bnuiidr 
just  as  much  as  they  would  have  been  if  they  had 
issued  a  manifesto  containing  their  political  creed. 
In  all  tills,  if  there  is  Jacobinism,  then  it  makes  m 


Prcmiicnt  nnd 
•oiivfiilion,  irt 
party.    Look 
iriilic  piiriv  in 
I  look  at  tliix 
\\s  prior  to  tin 
lio'fjr  majority 
siK'li  evi(irii<'.( 
»  my  pr'ip"Ni- 
lli('  Himkinp  oC 
p  of  arRumriil 
1;  and   liow  ils 
■oliiiiical  iiicaN- 
i>.     I  admit  ilM 
his  difio,uwsii)ii, 
liut  iiitrodiirrd 
f,  tpli  you  wliat 
lal  roiivpnlion. 
ipl<'d   bind  tlie 
»  not  neci'ssury 
ani  (|iiilt;  sure, 
.her  side  of  tl«; 
ilial  tlie  rcsulu- 
Prcsidcnt  and 
ai'tually  rUrtod 
r.cotnpanii'd  Ity 
lifir  confcwsion 
ilimoreronvrn- 
had  p\e»  to  lltr 
u(  ntioM  to  tlios(! 
lion,  (and  simi- 
whoie  Nffios  ot' 
ion,)i>nd  lie  wBf> 
3   Wia;\\  office  lit" 
Treat  prino.iplei! 
t)le,  and  known 
loae  cnlcrtaini'd 
le  convention. 
I'rejiidpnt  were 
,  by  having  ae-' 
enlion  that  had 
ir,  aM  nnif.li  iis 
PreNident  i.i  to 
whom  he  had 
he  ofl'ered  iiim- 
their»uirrai;eN. 
ibody  dorlrine.T 
t  forth  puliliely 
Id,  and  whic.li,- 
He  ohiimed  the 
■en  the  Senator 
in   1825  and 
;uldrcs.'<e»,aiid 
Slates.      When 
proclaimed    the 
the  Demoe- 
II  him,  ns  their 
iilo  action.     If 
filiation,  ho   if 
solutions.     He 
le.     I  hope  the 
agree  with  inc, 
)t  be  bound  by 
whom  the  con- 
and  whom  the 
dcnrably  bound, 
een  if  they  Imtl 
•  political  creed, 
then  it  makes  v 


Jar»e  mnjnrity  of  the  American  people  amenable 
to  the  cliar'Tc;  and  I,  for  one,  Mr  FriiHident, glory 
in  li<^in<;  hu<  h  a  Jacobite, 

Tiiero  i.s  aiiollKT  topic  introduced  by  the  gerille- 
nian  from  Virginia,  |!vlr.  Akciikk.J  It  Ih,  I  know, 
a  rather  delicate  matter,  but  1  feel  tnyHcIf  bound, 
as  a  western  Ilepre.senlativi^  to  vindicate  the  peo- 
ple of  the  West,  and  not  siitftr  the  unjust  impu- 
tation upon  them  to  pass  unnoticed  or  uncontra- 
dicted. Tiic  f,'entleman  from  Viri^iniu  hu.s  thou<;lil 
proper  to  decry  the  inklligenct  of  the  western  peo- 
ple: he  had  accuHcd  them  of  a  recklessnes.s  of  tem- 
perament— but  (;liarilably  expressed  the  ho|)e  that 
the  bl(ssiii;.,'H  of  a  more  riOMed  ei/iic  ii/iuii  umoiiK  us 
would  in  time  correct  the  evil  efl'ects  of  that  lem- 
pc'i'ameiit.  But,  sir,  lest  i  should  not  properly 
sti'.te  the  Neiitimciils  of  the  {gentleman,  1  bee  leave 
to  read  an  extract  from  his  [lublishcd  speech: 

'■A  Hii|ip«seiJ  pc^ciiliiir  wcHtirii  intrrvHl  »ri  tllix  Biitijnet  of 
Or.'Kiiii  hiiil  li.'eii  lulduci'd  tn  cxplniii  the  |ir<i|ic'iiHity  to  ex 
Iri'ini- III' nsiiri'!!  Miiiiiire>t<'il  in  lli.it  i|Uiirlrr  ol' tin' cdiiiitry, 
luiil  by  itH  lli'pri'Hi'ntntivi'M  her'.  II''  (Mr.  A.)  iliil  not  iw 
4'hl>e  the  Vf'liKiMcncn  of  thin  propensity  to  Ihi.*  intlB^Mice  of 
any  vurh  loltish  eonxiilcriilion.  Hut  he  did  iuhtiIiu  it  to  u 
pccnliiirity  oi'  wu.st.  rii  tcinptriinirnt,  tlie  ineidciit,  pi'rliaps, 
of  their  !.ttt'/n  of  socisi  condition.  The  people  were  iioto- 
rionsly  liriive ;  but  thi:<  hrnvery  ran  into  reckliKHiicH^  of  all 
eonn«|U  nc'H  in  controveniy  with  liireijn   I'lmem.    They 

I  were  ie<  iiiiiliiiililedlyii.'neroiiK ;  but  liny  had  the  i|iiulily  Ion 
often  found  in  allj.'inee  willi  Hpiiil  ami  veiieio-ity— inipii- 

j  lience  of  ri  jistniiee  to  tleir  view--,  and  the  ilwmp-ition  to 
domineer  over  it.     He  (Mr.  A.)  ndinitteil  hit  indnli»en<'e  of 

I  an  o.vtreine  Hiixiely  on  Ule  subject  of  this  western  leinpera- 
inent,  not  in  nlatinn  to  the  |ireseni  instance  only  of  ilx  dis- 
liliiy,  hilt  the  lirije  future  ivliich  wa.s  hcfore  ns;  the  political 
power  of  the  eonntry  beinj  de-tineil,  pniliihly,  to  pa-«  to 
Ihiit  reuion,  hcfore  this  temperament  passed  away  from  it, 
under  the  inlluinci:  of  its  only  eorreitive,  Hm.treH  Hurution. 
ICiiiniii.'iiiiiii  on  this  iipii',  he  had  to  cunfurK,  had  for  some 
time  kept  him  in  terror." 

Put  into  plain  En^'lish,  tlii.s  means  neither  more 
nor  less  than  that  the  whole  people  of  the  West 
arc  so  ifrnnrant  that  they  could  not  be  expected  to 
bo  ri;;lit,  either  on  thin  Oren;oii  question  or  any 
other.  Tliis  i>t  certainly  a  most  Hwec|iin};  charge, 
and  seems  to  invoke  all  the  people  west  of  the  Al- 
Icirlianies.  Now,  1  ask  that  gentleman,  anil  the 
Senate,  tn  look  at  the  political  character  of  these 
people — to  look  at  what  they  have  done,  and  omit- 
ted to  do,  and  in  what  this  western  temperament 
has  manifested  itself  in  their  conduct  and  history; 
and  I  aver  that  there  are  no  people  in  these  United 
-Suites  who  have  manifested  so  strong  an  attach- 

{iment  to  their  Government,  or  such  a  zealous  de- 
motion to  Ihe  union  of  these  States.     Why,  sir,  if 
he   honorable  Senator  had  described  us  all  as  the 
ineal  descendants  of  patient  Job,  and  had  summed 
))p  our  cliaracter  by  saying  we  were  all   the  chil- 

Jlreii  of  meekness  and  jiatience,  he  would  have 
jeen  far  more  correct.  What  have  we  ever  done 
£8  a  people  to  show  r\ir  recklcsmics.^  and  our 
|iroi)eiics3  to  run  in'.o  extremes.'  Look  at  our 
toast  history,  ami  see  whether  I  claim  too  much 
for  the  meekness,  forbearance,  and  patience  of  the 

{leople  (if  the  West.  On  the  formation  of  the  Con- 
e.deralion,  the  Old  Thirteen  became  sovereign  and 
ind(!|ienilenl,  and  in  the  atlopiion  of  the  Constitu- 
(tion  of  the  (ieneral  Government,  made  provision 
^br  the  admiHsion  of  new  States,  and  subserpiently 
cnlercd  into  a  compact  with  Virginia,  and  a  trentv 
>vith  France,  that  certain  new  Stales  should  be  ail- 
fnittod  "on  an  equal  footing  with  the  original 
fcitates;"  and  then,  forsooth,  although  the  original 


:  States  were  the  absolute  owners  of  the  soil  within 
I  their  limits,  they,  in  violation  of  their  own  com- 
I  pacts,  refused  to  the  new  Stales  that  right  of  soil 
;  itiliereiit  to  sovereignty,  and  which  each  original 
;  Stjtie  possessed    itself,  but   held  on  to  it,  and  ped- 
I  ilh'd  it  out  for  the  .sole  advuiilasre  of  the  General 
tiovcrnment.     What  did   the  West  do.'     Rebel.' 
Get   up  a  civil  war.'     Nullify   the  laws  of  Con- 
gress, thus   violating  our  sovereignly?     No,  sir. 
We    have,  from    time   to    time,   complained   and 
I  protested    only.       What   did    the    people   of   Ar- 
j  Kansas  do,  when  forty  miles  in  width  of  the  whole 
western   portion  of  her  rpco<riiised   territory  was 
i  taken   from   her,  and   by  which   hundreds  of  her 
j  citizens  were  removed  iVom  their  farms,  opened 
I  and   improved  by  the  lalmr  of  their  own  hands, 
I  and  given  to  the   Indians,  to  induce  them  to  re- 
move west  of  the  Mississippi,  out  of  the  States 
j  where   they  were  born,  and   their  ancestors  had 
lived,  fi-orn  time  immemorial.'    Did  we  resist.'   No, 
:  sir.     We  have  shown  ourselves  a  law-abiding  peo- 
I  file,  and  hav"  never,  in  anv  instance,  gone  against, 
I  or  resisted  .i.-i  authority.    'Fake,  as  a  further  illus- 
'  trulion,  the  tnrilV  of  1842.     I  um  not  going  into  its 
j  merits,  but  I  ask,  what  is  the  public  sentiincnt  in 
j  the  whole  West  in  regard  to   it.'     It  is  perfectly 
'  well  known  that  a  large  majority  of  western  men 
]  consider  it  as  n  system  of  "  legalized  robbery," 
I  and  ycl,  how  have  we  deported  ourselves  under  it? 
!  I  lave  we  held  public  meetins-s,  and  adopted  reso- 
i  lutions  to  resist  the  law?     No,  sir,  we  have  resort- 
I  ed  to  remonstrance — wo  have  madi    an  appeal  to 
I  reason  and  to  justice;  and  this  reckless  western 
temperament  has  contented  itself  with  resorting  to 
'  the  ballol-box  al'itie  to  correct  the  evil.   That  is  our 
disposition  for  "  running  to  extremes."  No,  sir,  we 
I  never  had,  in  our  part  of  the  country,  any  Hart- 
ford Conventions;  wc  have  never  put  arms  into  the 
hands  of  our  militia  to  resist  their  own  Govern- 
ment.    We  never  called  upon  our  people   to  pre- 
vent the  collection  of  an  excise  lax.    We  have  nev- 
er attempled,   in  any  of  our  Legislatures,  to  do 
away  with  the  compromises  of  the  Constitution, 
or  to  declare  the  Union  dissolved,  because  a  new 
State  had  been  admitted  into  the  Union,  agreeable 
to  the  forms  of  the  Constitution  itself.     Nothing  of 
the  kind.     On  the  contrary,  I  insist  that  the  people 
of  the  West  have  shown  more  attachment  to  the 
Union  than  ihose  of  any  other  portion  of  the  United 
Slates.    Yet  the  s;entlenian  says  that  our  rash  reck- 
lessness of  character  will  be  corrected  by-and-by, 
by  the  influence  of  education.     Yes,  sir,  by  the 
influence  of  education  !     Why,  sir,  I  hold  that  the 
population  of  the  western  Stales  tire,  at  this  mo- 
ment, belter  informed  than  the  people  of  any  State 
in  this  Union,  except  those  of  New  England,  where 
they  have  lo'iff  enjoyed  the  advantage  of  the  system 
of  common  schools.     I  say  confidently,  that  there 
is  no  portion  of  the  people  of  the  southern,  or  of 
the  middle  Suites,  that  can  compare  at  all  in  useful 
knowledge,  and  the  general  jirevalcncc  of  educa- 
tion, with  the  people  of  the  \Vest.     In  confirma- 
tion of  this  statement,  and  asa  test  of  its  truth,  I  beg 
leave  to  refer  to  a  small  statistical  table  which  1  hold 
in  my  hand,  and  which  has  been  made  out  at  my 
request,  in  the  ollice  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Sen- 
ate, from  datji  contained  in  the  census  of  1840.    It 
exhibits  the  relative  number  of  those  who  are  una- 
ble to  read  and  write,  as  compared  with  the  entire 


6 


Sopulation.  This  is  int<>ndcd  to  iiinlude  only  tlioae 
tales  whosr  Seimtors  hnvc  Imtii  railed  "  the  Hol- 
■purs  of  the  Scrmtc,"  "  tin;  ullni  men,"  "  the  all- 
or-none-[)urty,"  the  54°  40'  men;  mid  I  have  left 
out  the  rcinuiiiiii>!;  southem  and  western  S'i'iifH, 
because  neither  rnuld  have  lieen  referred  to  •,  ihe 
remarks  of  the  Senator.  TIiIh  table  I  espeeially 
commend  to  the  attention  of  the  Senator  from  Vir- 
ginia: 
Proportion  of  white  persons  over  20  yearn  of  age  who 

cannot  rend  and  write,  to  the  aggi-eifate  while  pojiu- 

lation  of  the  foUowing  States,  according  to  thi  renms 

O/1840. 

In  Virginia 7.72  per  cent. 

Arkansas 8.25      " 

Illinois 5.82      " 

Missouri 5.97      " 

■i        Indiana 5.C1       " 

Michigan 1 .02       " 

Ohio 2.35      " 

Averaf^e  per  cent,  proportion  of  the  six  la.st- 
named  States,  4.H4  per  cent. 

And  now,  how  standi  this  matter  in  old  Virginia, 
in  the  "Old  Dominion,"  the  "mother  of  States 
and  statesmen.'"  with  her  long-settled  country — 
her  university — her  colleges,  and  all  her  academies 
and  common  schools.'  Rather  more  within  her 
borders  can  neither  read  nor  write  than  double  the 
proportion  in  the  western  States.  Her  average 
stands  7.72! !! — below  any  western  Slate  but  Ar- 
kansas; while  the  one  has  been  settled  more  than 
two  hundred  years,  and  th(^  other  some  twenty-live; 
one  a  free  sovereign  Slate  for  seventy  years,  and  the 
other  ten  only.  [A  voice:  "  But,  then,  Arkansas 
has  always  been  Democratic."]  True,  Mr.  Pres- 
ident, she  always  has  been  Dtmocralic;  and  I  trust 
in  Heaven  will  always  remain  so.  It  is  that 
democracy,  that  equality  of  rights  and  privileges 
resulting  from  it,  that  has  extended  among  the 
whole  mass  of  her  citizens  the  blessings  of  diflused 
education,  of  which  she  may  well  boast.  After 
having  so  recently  taken  her  station  among  her  sis- 
ter republics  as  a  free,  sovereign,  and  independent 
State  of  this  Union — only  one-linlf  of  one  per  cent. 
below  Virginia — with  all  her  wealth,  her  literary 
institutions,  her  age,  and  superior  advantages  in 
every  respect ! !  fhavc  taken  this  general  fact  as 
an  indication  of  the  state  of  information  in  a  com- 
munity; nor  do  I  know  a  better  or  fairer  test;  and 
it  places  Virginia  in  a  position  where  her  Repre- 
sentatives in  this  chamber  should  have  been  the 
very  last  to  say  a  word  on  the  want  of  education 
in  the  West.  Is  it  I.,  that  charges  us  with  igno- 
rance, and  measures  our  temperament  by  it?  I 
leave  it  to  the  candor  of  the  gentleman  from  Vir- 
ginia himself  to  say,  whether,  according  to  this 
standard  of  educational  geography,  if  the  West, 
through  her  ignorance,  goes  for  54°  40',  Virginia 
ought  not  to  stand  firm  at  least  as  high  us  latitude 
750.> 

There  is  one  other  subject  to  which  I  cannot  but 
refer.  I  do  so  with  regret,  and  without  the  least 
purpose  of  casting  censure  on  any  one.  I  refer  to 
the  discussion  in  this  chamber  of  the  British  title. 
1  concede  to  gentlemen  on  the  other  side  quite  as 
much  patriotism  as  is  possessed  by  those  on  this. 
I  am  far  from  charging  them  with  advocating  Brit- 
ish intcrcala  in  opposition  to  thuac  of  their  own 


country,  with  «  view  of  bonefiiing  them  and  in 
juring  us.  We  arc  all  Ainrrican  cilizeiis;  but 
when  a  ccnitest  exists  in  rcgiird  to  titles  beiwcen 
us  and  (iri'at  Britain,  I  hold  it  wrong  tn  advocate 
the  British  title,  or  express  dmibts  about  our  rights, 
in  open  debate,  in  an  ,\mcricMn  Seniilc.  I  wbh 
much  gratified  to  hear  the  lioiioiiiblt'  Sei.ator  from 
Massachusetts  (Mr.  WKii«Tr.ii|  say  "that  his 
tongue  should  blislrr  before  he  would  say  one 
word  in  derogation  of  the  American  title  so  long 
as  the  subject  was  under  iiegotialion.  I  think  that 
in  that  determination  he  was  perfectly  right;  othci 
Senators  have  thought  and  acted  ilifTerently.  I 
give  them  credit  for  the  best  intenlioiis,  but  not  for 
good  judgment.  I  disagree  with  them  in  their 
ideas  of  duty.  But  what  may  be  the  etfert  of  thiK 
line  of  conduct.'  Mr.  Buchanan,  in  his  corn 
spondence  with  Mr.  Pakenham.says  thai  the  claim 
of  KnglandjOn  the  ground  of  the  treaty  of  Noolka 
Sounu,  was  first  suggested  by  the  American  ne- 
gotiator, Mr.  Rush.  In  this  it  is  possible  he 
IS  mistaken;  but  I  shall  not  venture  to  enritradirt 
the  Secretary  of  State  without  a  further  investiga- 
tion than  I  have  been  able  to  make  as  yet.  Let 
gentlemen  only  look  what  a  curious  position  they 
may  find  themselves  phiced  in.  Since  this  nego- 
tiation commenced,  the  British  Minister.'^  have  been 
compelled  to  change  their  whole  mouiiil.  In  thi' 
corresjiondence  which  took  place  in  1818,  the  Brit 
ish  negotiators  never  once  referred  to  the  Nootku 
convention.  They  relied  then  on  sonie  purchase 
from  the  Indians,  on  Captain  Cook's  disi-ovcries, 
and  the  Lord  knows  what  else;  but  not  a  word 
about  the  convention  of  JVootka.  Now,  tlicy  rely 
on  that  convention  altnmether,  and  on  nothing  else; 
and  yet  this,  which  they  now  connider  as  their 
strongest  ground,  wa.i  first  suegested  to  them  by 
one  of  our  own  advocates.  If  my  views  of  that 
matter  arc  correct,  th'^v  have  got  tn  change  their 
ground  once  more;  for  '  hold  that  theyr  have  not  a 
shadow  of  title  undci  that  treaty.  Will  not  those 
gentlemen,  who  have  devise<l  arguments  here  on 
the  British  side  of  the  question,  feel  rather  strange- 
ly if  Mr.  Pakenham  should,  on  a  renewal  of  the 
negotiations,  bring  forward  new  orgunients,  such  as 
he  never  used  before,  which  have  been  taught  him 
on  theolherside  of  this  chamber.'  I  fancy  they  will 
have  placed  themselves  in  an  exlreinely  awkward 

Cosilion.  1  give  credit  to  this  Senate,  as  a  legislative 
ody,  for  the  pos.srssion  of  talents  equal  to  those 
of  any  other  body  of  men  on  the  face  of  the  earth; 
and  chcerfiilly  admit  that  the  gentlemen  on  the 
other  side  of  the  ciianiber  are  entitled  to  the  credit 
of  their  full  share.  Who  cannot  select  out  of  thai 
portion  of  the  Senate  at  least  ten  gentlemen  who, 
in  point  of  talcnLs  and  knowledge,  are  quite  equal 
to  Mr.  Pakenham.'  1  fancy  their  vanity  will  for- 
bid their  giving  a  negative  to  this  a.s.-iertion.  Now, 
if  men  of  such  calibre  set  themselves  down  tn 
investigate  a  national  title,  is  there  not  ground  to 
suppose  that  they  will  hit  upon  arguments  and 
considerations  such  as  Mr.  Pakenham  never  would 
have  thought  of?  They  must  remember,  when 
they  are  urging  arguments  to  restrain  our  ckiima 
in  Oregon,  they  are  addressin;::  not  men^ly  us,  ul- 
tra claimants,  as  they  choose  to  term  us,  but  they 
arc  talking  to  England  also,  and  to  the  whole 
world. 
I  believe  most  sincerely  that  tlie  case  as  pre- 


sented 18  ni 
quoting  an 
Maine  ovci 
liis  argume 
and  such  ai 
isler  never  I 
would  be  ri 
knowledge  i 
sue  a  fruudi 
was  done  I 
case  of  the 
in  common 
donee;  but  I 
as  never  wa 
\ious  negoti 
Oregon  iimtl 
have  produc 

"Tlicre  ID  a 
of  our  cliiiui,  II 
exnmliii-  lipfor 
lulo  war.  I  ti 
jmrcntly,  wiili 
tiUc,  \,y  a  Mr. 
"'iniilly  know, 

"III'  of  till-  l|f|« 

Rpirit  wliich  III 
luirtinlil)  tu  (> 
iiiittiorily,  liul 
anil  Clarke,  Ih 
mnkc  iliwover 
liie  |iiir|ii>iie  of 
Uml  Uiey  »|ip|| 
IKirtJ,  luid  aril 
pror(w^<,  indii'il 
lliu  iiHiiiil  iiiarh 
■eript  Iroin  Itic 
wi:  i|(it  Lijiiisui 
iMiiih  lit  imri!r 
tlic  (Viliiiiihin  1 
ciieli  iailic  iHcl 
dmciimiioii.     \\ 

I  have  no  t 
I  don't  belie' 
Sec  what  thf 
intention,  I  I 
thing  to  injui 
cation  was 
passports  foi 
'recorded  in  t 
jC&n  be  prodii 
jble  argumen 
jthe  Nootktt  ( 
ithing  Great 
inot,  indeed, 
■weaken  one 
Clarke's   ex 
getting  Louii 
•nd  Clarke  t 
cur  new  pur 
World  as  one 
l)Ut  if  the  sla 
It  was  no  KiK 
commercial 
hunters,  and 
Wen — an  ex 
jects.     This 
of  our  pri'vii 
«nce  that  has 
theirs,  based 
Allow  me, 
.the  vast  nun 
(raised.     The 
br]  says: 
f  authority  K 


;  thrm  nnd  in 
ri  cilizJ-lis;  l>ut 
)  lillm  IwlWLcn 
out;  li>  iulvocnic 
iIhiui  Diir  liRhlH, 
8<'niili'.  I  wnn 
i|(;  S<i..itor  from 
Hiiy  "tliiit  hJH 
would  Hiiy  on<- 
HI)  litlr  so  long 
)n.  I  think  tliitl 
nlly  fiijlil;  olhci 
I  (lifTirfnlly.  I 
oriN,  but  not  for 

thcni  in  their 
th(!  cHoct  of  thiB 
I,  in   his  corn 
VH  thnt  the  claim 
rnily  of  Noolkn 

Ainericiin  ne- 
iH  |>oMHible  III' 
ire  to  corilnulirt 
iirlhcr  inveHtifjii- 
ke  ns  yet.  Let 
us  position  they 
Since  this  ncf;o- 
linlcrs  iuive  been 
n;roun(l.  In  the 
in  IcilH.  the  Bril 
1(1  to  tiic  Nooikii 
1  Home  purchase 
ik'a  ilirtcovcries, 
but  not  n  word 
Now,  ihcy  rely 
on  nothing  eUe; 
•onsider  na  their 
i'«ted  to  them  by 
ny  views  of  thnt 
t  to  chnn^e  their 
I  they  hnve  not  a 

Will  not  ihoBe 
;;uments  here  on 
■el  nithcr  stmngc- 
a  renewal  of  the 
•punipntH,  such  ns 
;  been  luufjht  him 
I  fancy  lliey  will 
reniely  awkward 
ite,nHalegisli\livc 
t8  equal  to  those 
face  of  the  earth; 
entlemen  on  the 
itled  to  the  credit 
select  out  of  that 
I  gentlemen  who, 
e,  are  quite  equal 
r  vanity  will  for- 
nssertion.  Now, 
mselves  down  tn 
ire  not  ground  to 
n  nrffunieiits  and 
ihuni  never  would 
remember,  when 
lihlrain  our  claimH 
lot  mendy  us,  ul- 
term  us,  but  they 
nd   to  tiie  whole 

tlie  case  as  pre 


Miitrd  in  not  exii|rg:eral«d.  Lnt  mn  illuatrnte  by 
quoting  an  instiuicc  of  it.  The  tSuiiator  from 
Maine  over  the  way,  (Mr.  Kvanh,]  sugfjesicd  in 
his  urfjunient  the  other  day,  matters  entiridy  new, 
and  Hucit  as  I  will  venture  to  say  the  Uritish  Min- 
iMler  never  heard  of  before.  I  do  not  say  that  it 
would  be  ri>;hl  in  us,  if  we  were  puN.sesHed  of  u 
knowledj,'e  of  facts  which  England  has  not,  to  ;)ur- 
siie  a  fraudulent  course  in  their  coiieeulment,  as 
wnu  done  by  the  British  negotiator  in  the  famous 
<'aiic  of  the  red-linc  map.  I  admit  that  wo  mi^lit, 
in  common  honesty,  be  bound  to  produce  evi- 
dence; but  1  say  it  was  a  new  arj^umenl,  and  such 
as  never  was  ur^^cd  against  us  in  any  of  the  pie- 
\iou8  negotiations  which  have  tuken  place  on  this 
Oregon  matter,  and  wliich  we  were  not  bound  to 
hnve  produced.     The  Senator  said: 

"Tlicrc  in  aiiiillicr  thing  wliicli  tlirim-H  iloiilit  oa  thi»  part 
of  (lur  ciniui.iiiiil  wliiili  wc  xliouiil  curcfiilly  mid  tliuriiiiKlily 
•■xninliK*  lierori-  wv  tiiko  xtipi  tliat  iimy  |iliiiiK''  tl>''  niiliciii 
iiilu  war.  I  have  xcvii  n  ract  hWIciI  in  a  iMuik,  wrilU'ii,  np 
pnruntly,  wiiii  a  viiw  of  niaiiilaiiiiiiK  the  Kiiuiidiiniw  ufiiur 
title,  hy  n  Mr.  itiiliertjidii,  a  Keiitleiiiaii  whom  I  ilii  not  per- 
"onall^  know,  liiit  who,  nil  I  underxlaiiil,  ia  eoniici  led  wllti 
one  (it  the  deimrtiiientii  nl'thc  (Jovcrninent,  nnd  written  in  a 
Kpiril  wliieh  iihund«iitly  exemptu  hiin  t'riini  all  inipiilaUoii  of 
liiirtiality  tu  (irial  ilriiain.  The  writer  Joch  nut  give  hi;i 
aiitliorily,  hiil  he  sayM,  speaking uf  the  eiploratioii  by  Lewis 
and  Clark),  lliltt  the  ohject  or  tlieir  etpiilitjon  wax  not  to 
make  diM'iivcrieH,  hut  that  it  wan  purely  poiniiiRreinl— ror 
tile  piirpoiie  old|H-ninit  a  trade  weM  of  our  iHiHiiei'iiioiia;  and 
Uiul  Uiey  applied  to  Hpain,  Kiii{hind,  luid  Hux^'ia,  for  pita- 
IHirts  and  in  lu illy  obtained  tlieni.  The  |iiiM<a«[e  iIihh  nol 
proroH.!,  indeed,  to  hi  a  literal  i|iiotulion— llinl  in,  it  had  not 
the  iiHiiiil  niarku  of  i)iiotiitlfin.  hut  in  introdueed  im  a  tmn- 
■eript  t'roin  Uie  in^trueUonfi  given,  and  Uiiitnt  a  lime  Ihlore 
we  ijdt  Liiuimaiia.  IT  Una  be  ko,  it  eiiUnly  repudiiili'8  ko 
iiMieh  ol  our  (.'round  ol'  Utie  iim  rexlH  U|Kin  Uie  exiiluratiiiii  ot 
tlie  Coliinibin  river  by  bewin  nnd  ("Inrke.  I  do  not  n.-iy  that 
rneli  in  the  titel.  All  I  ^ay  ix,  thnt  tluH  ix  a  Krave  subject  fur 
diMCUHitioii.     We  inay  be  able  to  luixwor  till'  dillieully." 

I  hnvenodoubtmy.'fcif  but  this  isn  "fish  story," 
1  don't  believe  a  word  of  it.  Still,  it  muy  be  true. 
See  what  the  Senator  has  done !  It  was  not  his 
intention,  I  know,  and  chi:erfully  admit,  to  do  any- 
thing to  injure  his  country.  If  it  be  true  that  appli- 
cation was  made  to  the  British  Government  for 
passports  for  Lewis  and  Clarke,  the  fact  must  be 
'recorded  in  the  British  archives;  and  if  the  proof 
ran  be  produced,  it  will  furnish  a  far  mo-^  plausi- 
,ble  argument  against  us  than  Mr.  Fak(;iihiim'8  on 
;lhe  Nootka  convention — more  plausible  than  any- 
thing Great  Britain  has  l)een  able  to  adduce.  I  do 
!not,  indeed,  say  it  will  be  conclusive,  but  it  will 
weaken  one  of  our  arguments  based  on  Lewis  nnd 
Clarke's  exploration.  We  have  said,  that  after 
getting  Louisiana  from  France,  we  sent  out  Lewis 
and  Clarke  to  investigate  and  examine  the  value  of 
cur  new  purchase.  We  have  tnimpcted  it  to  the 
world  as  one  of  the  wise  acts  of  our  Government; 
l)Ut  if  the  statement  of  this  Mr.  Robertson  is  true, 
it  was  no  such  thing.  They  were  sent  only  on  a 
commercial  errand,  to  procure  fresh  furs  for  our 
hunters,  and  new  fishing  grounds  for  our  fisher- 
men— an  exploration  wholly  for  commercial  ob- 
jects. This  refutes,  at  one  blow,  all  the  argiinients 
of  our  previous  negotiators  in  all  the  correspond- 
«nce  that  has  passed  between  our  Government  and 
theira,  based  on  that  exploration.  | 

Allow  me,  Mr.  President,  to  refer  to  one  oil""  of  ; 
the  vast  number  of  ti«ie  objections  that  havu  .  .•  j 
/raised.  The  gentleman  from  Virginia  [Mr.  Arch-  ; 
er]  says:  "  IJiscovery  was  not  one  of  the  titles  to  j 
■"  authority  lo  be  found  in  the  Constitution  for  the 


■  acquisition  of  territory;"  and  thai  we  had,  by 

the  Constitution,  the  power  of  acipiiring  territory 
by  treaty  only,  luid  discovery  was  no  evidnnce  of 
a  trealy-iiiiikiiig  faculty.  If  this  objection  was 
well  taken,  it  was  conclusive  against  our  title  by 
our  own  disi^ovi  rie.s,  explorations,  and  setl.ement, 
of  Oregon,  and  one  that  has  never  occurred  to  the 
British  ((overnmeiit.  I  will  not  argue  such  a  ques- 
tion, that  we  cannot  acquire  territory  by  discovery, 
for  it  is  an  undeniable  incident  of  sovereignty:  such 
a  construction  would  render  our  Government  n 
laughing-stock  to  the  world.  I  inigh'  :idd  twenty 
other  similar  new  objections  that  have  never  before 
been  made  from  any  quarter,  but  I  leave  them;  and 
I  doubt  whether  gentlemen  will  be  able  to  satisfy 
the  American  people  that  such  arguments  arc  ad- 
missible, or  proper  in  the  mouths  of  American 
Senators:  they  legitimately  belong  to  the  British 
Parliament  only. 

The  subject  of  war  had  been  introduced  here,  and 
reiutons  have  been  given  for  sufiposing  that  notice 
may  lead  to  war.  Of  this  I  do  not  complain.  But 
there  has  been  one  thing  introdueed  here,  which  is 
totally  inexcusable.  We  have  had  most  glowing 
descriptions  of  the  horrors  and  devastations  of  war. 
Great  eloquence  has  been  displayed  in  all  this;  but 
the  question  is,  cui  bono?  What  good  purpose  is 
to  be  ed'ectcd  by  it.'  Can  gentlemen  expect  oy  this 
lo  influence  any  member  of  this  Senate.'  Surely 
not.  Can  it  be  in  order  to  "  prepare  the  hearts  of 
the  people"  for  peace? — to  alarm  the  fears  of  the 
Aiacricuii  people.'  If  these  are  not  the  objects 
aimed  at,  then  I  cannot  understand  why  these  de- 
.scriptioijs  are  intruduced  at  all.  I  consider  it  as  all 
wrong. 

There  was  another  thing  lo  which  I  must  also 
object.  A  resolution  was  introduced  by  the  Sen- 
ator from  Delaware,  [Mr.  J.  M.  Clayton,]  calling 
on  tiic  Secretary  of  the  Navy  to  lay  before  the  Sen- 
ate the  naval  force  of  all  the  nations  of  Europe,  and 
of  the  world.  The  Secretary  complied  witJi  the 
call,  and  I  beg  leave  to  read  the  British  force: 

NAVAI.  FORCE  op  GREAT  BRITAIN.* 


iLAsn  Ol  Hiiipa. 


Hlii|i«  of  the  line.. 

I'VigaU'H 

munpx,  brifj.!,  and 
bombs 

Sehoonerx,  cut- 
ten",  tenders,  and 
ketrhcu 

Steam  friuutes 

Slenni  Hloopx 

Steam  paeketx.... 

Other  i<b'amcrd. .. 

'rriinsporl-s  and 
tro<ipHhip.< 

Iteceivinx  nhipx, 
e(KLstguiird../,aud 
otlier  non  I'li'er- 
tive  VPH"!!!!!;  aa 
coal  depdtH,  con- 
vict hulki<,  tie., 
eiiiployeil  in  ser- 
vice eoiinected 
with  the  navy. , . 


IN  (  OMMIM 
8IUN. 


No.  Guiu. 


71 


H4 


I, .170 
1,14.1 

J.W 


66 

BO 

270 

18 


t4a'> 


Totiii :m  4,58;)  loo  :t,i65  lat^  »,9:o 


IN  oHnt- 

NARY. 


No.   Uutu.  No.    Gwu. 


4UM 


IdO 

100 

6 

13 


40 


6,a.'rfi 

3,006 
S31 


18 
40 
30 


11.5 
l',!0 

i:a 


84 


6J6 


*  Kroin  the  Navy  List  of  January,  1849. 
f  Nuiniaol  armament. 


Non  — Th«  mfW-l*!  flM  nunihfra  671  vcmpI* ,  but  namin 
only  KH. 

Namhrr  of  vowrln  In    rhfi  llrilitli  n«vy,  Kid;   nioiinlinn,  ! 
whi-n  arini'd,  l7,iiHI  xiin<. 

NuinhiT  oriiii  II  i'in|ilii)i'i|  ill  UiP  navy,  1HI.V41 iJ7,.')(IO  '• 

'--         I»iyi4         dn  do  do a,(K)(l  i 


IKi 
Do 


dn 
iiiariiu-ii  do 


du 


do \o,rAm 

4U,U00 


Rrvrnuo  vpim-Ih  rnininnnilml  by  ofliovrM  of  ilii-  royul  iiavv, 
<U;  uiouiiUiiR  I'MkhiiK' 

•    Indian  navy,  li^li~[ Kngiiitrn  dnrf  .Inhiteih'  Jjumul]- 
fllooia ;n 

H<"hrt.neiV. ■..'::.;;.■;:     J  [mounting 10A|UII>. 

I  'uxu-n a  J 

riteamen 2]    mounllng (10     " 

Total »  Total m     •• 

Total  Mrniueiii  oI°hII  cIiukph  in  thn  Knwliiih  navy HI 

l>o           in  till-  ri'voniic  Hcrvii'c I 

I)  >            in  tlic  Indian  nnvy ijo 

"  Cnntrart  mail  KlPiinDT"    nilKr  itiR  rontrnl  of  thi!  Ad-  j 

ininUly,  for  war  piiriH       ,  I'atiiiiiiiiMl  at .'ri 

Total  efliflivo  fti'mii  navy,  viwtclii |mu  | 

EADT  INDIA  MAIL  STRAMEIlll. 

In  this  service  thci^  nrc  nine  steumerH,  «vcnijriii;» 
833  tons,  tnountinj;  three  j^uim  each,  ("lii  and  'Mt- 
pnundcrs,)  showing  a  total  number  of  it^j  odicers 
and  men. 

I  now  refl'r  you  to  the  Aineriran  navnl  fl)rcc,and 
it  makes,  I  confess,  but  n  smnll  whow  by  the  side  of 
the  other. 

NATAL  FOBCE  OF  TIIK  UNITED  STATEII,* 


rLAil  or  ■IIIPU. 


IN  COH- 

MIHHIilN. 


A'o.    &UIU. 


Hliipn  uf  till' line 4 

Fiigiiti'S  and  razri'« 1  7 

HIiKipK  of  war j  15 

Brif!<  of  war i  6 

Sti'ameni  of  war 3 

SthiKinT* ;  1 

Somali    iinnrnu'd    voiiheUi 

and  BtorcHliip^ 1 1 


\rgregate i  47 


.174 

374 

314 

611 

3:1 

10 


tfo.    Gam. 


I  420 

I  ISO 

I  40 

I  -. 


I 


I,I5,'>  I  II   I     614 


IN  ORDI- 
SVKV. 


No.  Guiw. 


6l 

9 

3 


19 


164 

ail) 

130 

ao 
11 


576 


Total  numlHT  of  GoviTnincut  vi'khcIh,  ofall  cliiMiei',  77. 

Total  number  of  pinv,  when  nil  aniii^d,  2,:)  15. 

Total  number  of  Hciuiien  and  boyn  empjoyed  in  the  navnl 

wrvico,  lfH5,  1848 7,.500 

Total  nDmb«r  of  marine  corpn,  exclusive  ofoHk-iTH. .    I,!2:>4 

Total 8,734 

r>f  tho  four  linc-of  hnttle  Hhip'<  iimrkrd  as  in  rnmmisHion, 
one  only  in  nt  sea.  T!ii'  otlier  Uiree  nrc  used  as  receiving 
ships,  or  tlie  five  marked  as  building,  one  in  at  Sackeit's 
Harbor. 

Of  the  Ktennicrs,  one  of  the  three  in  the  eolumn  of  "ordi- 
nary" IB  for  harbor  defenee.     'I'hu  other  id  a  steiiiii  lug. 

Now,  sir,  Hlth<mgh  tiic  i^entlcnian  called  for  ihid 
information  while  ihc  bill  for  an  inereiiwe  of  our 
navy  was  pendin|;,  it  was  during  the  pendency  of 
the  Oregon  question  al.so,  and  supporting  the  views 
presented  in  his  speech:  and  willi  what  object  was 
this  display  made  r  Was  it "  to  prepare  the  hearl.s 
of  the  people"  for  peace  by  alarming  their  fears  .' 
It  was  not  needed  by  us,  but  it  may  be  very  use- 
f\il  as  a  political  instrument.  This  compnrativr 
strength  of  Great  Britain  may  be  trumpeted  forti. 

• 1 — — — ^— ___ 

*  Official  documents,  January,  1846. 


to  the  people  to  eoiixfrl  a  peart.  \  hold  that  the 
whole  iiroceeding  is  wroii;;.  If  we  have  right*, 
(and  who  doiilits  them,)  we  are  I'ot  to  be  terrified 
iVom  enforciiii^  them  by  miicIi  a  parade  of  tlie  rower 
of  the  Urilixli  empire.  If  not  only  (treat  ll  ituin 
bill  llie  whole  world  were  iirniyed  ngiiiiiHt  us,  I 
hold,  that  although  they  might  greatly  injure,  they 
ei.iild  not  conquer,  (ind  ought  not  to  be  permitted 
to  deter  us  from  eiiloicmg  ull  mir  just  riglits.  I 
ilo  not  say  thii4  in  a  lionAting  spirit.  I  refer  to  our 
|HiNition— our  geogriiphicnl  poHilion — our  remote- 
neHM  from  Kiirope — and  our  vast  le.Moiirees  in  men 
and  materini;  and  we  mny  proudly  cliullenge  a  con- 
test with  the  world  in  nrniHngain.st  us  without  ulti- 
mate danger  to  our  iVee  institulions.  Hut  if  the  case 
were  otherwise,  would  it  furnish  any  reason  why 
tliis  Heniiie  sliould  forljear  from  claiming,  to  their 
full  extent,  the  just  rights  of  this  nation.'  Pru- 
dence, indeed,  might  iiiiliice  delay,  but  that  is  all 
It  should  do.  Tell  ilH,  as  if  we  were  c.liildri.'n,  about 
the  horrors  of  war!  Why,  what  man  of  the  leant 
reflection  does  not  knov/ that  »"'r '•  i|ic  greatest 
curse,  and  iiencc  the  greatest  blehn.iii,  ihat  natioiM 
know  .'  Why,  tht^n,  these  fine  poetical  harangues, 
and  these  rhetorical  pii  "  es  of  the  horrors  of  the 
battle-field,  of  tlie  blood,  carnage,  and  devastation 
that  war  may  oecAsion .'  liut  the  Senator  from 
South  Carolina  [Mr.  Cai.iioiin]  went  even  furtlicr 
than  this.  I  le  not  only  trenled  us  to  some  pictures 
of  bloodshed,  but  he  mentioned  the  ellcct  of  war 
upon  tlie  finances  of  the  country,  uiid,  according 
to  his  calculation,  we  were  to  be  left  with  a  debt 

\  of  some  seven  or  eight  hundred  millioi'.s;  we  must 
raise  two  hundred  thou.saiid  men,  and  keep  them 
in  consUint  pay;  and  have  seven  armies  and  two 
navies;  and   when   the  fight  was  over,  afVr  ten 

!  years'  foreign  war,  we  were  to  encounter  civil  war, 
to  have  some  half  a  do/en  military  chieftai"s  fight- 

[  iiig  for  ascendency  and  the  prcsidentiul  chair.  I 
cannot  agree  with  the  Senator  that  we  are  in  any 
such  danger.  I  believe  we  never  sliull  have  any- 
thing to  fear  from  "  military  chieftains"  till  our 
whole  national  character  .shall  be  changed — never 
till  the  American  people  shall  have  become  ener- 
vated by  luxury,  and  reduced,  through  the  cor- 
ruption of  the  whole  mass  of  our  |>eoi)le,  to 
such  degradation  that  we  shall  no  longer  ueaerve 
to  enjoy  the  blessings  of  liberty  and  freedom,  pur- 
chased and  consecrated  by  the  glorious  dcetis  of 
our  sainted  fathers  of  the  Ilevolulion;  then,  aiid 
then  only,  shall  we  have  ciui.sc  to  feur  the  inglorious 
contests  for  supremacy  among  our  "  military  chief- 
tains," so  eloquently  described  by  the  gentleman 
IVom  Soutli  Carolina.  We  have  already  passed 
through  two  wars,  and  a  Washington  and  a  Jack- 
son— the  military  (  hieflains  of  those  wars — have 
each  occupied  the  presidential  chuir  (without  fight- 
ing for  it)  by  the  free  and  unpurchased  votes  of 
millions  of  freemen. 

I  beg  leave,  Mr.  Presidimt,  wilJi  a  view  of  coun- 
teracting the  false  impressions  that  are  thus  en- 
deavored to  be  made  upon  our  fears,  to  present  a 
dirterent  picture,  the  results  shown  liy  our  census, 
exhibiting  the  number  of  free  white  males  at  the 
end  of  this  year,  and  our  annual  increase.  I  ex- 
'.  : '•  this,  prepared  in  the  Secretary's  office  at  my 
I  11  est,  to  show  that  our  pre.seiil  numbers,  willi 
lie  annual  increase,  present  results  llial  have  nu 
pu>ui''e)  iu  the  world.  „  .    ..,  - 


»• 


I  hold  thni  thr 
we  linvfi  ri^hta. 
'ii  (I)  lir  icrrifica 
nilr  (if  ilir  power 
ly  <!rc(»t  IJ  lUiin 
il  M^'iiiimt  UN,  [ 
iitly  iiijiiro,  they 
til  In:  permitted 
I-  jiiMt  rights.     I 
I  rcfrr  to  our 
111 — our  rrtiiote- 
cHduri'i.s  ill  men 
h:illrii;jn  ii  roii- 
l  UH  wilhoiit  iilti- 
llut  if  the  niHO 
liny  nii.Hoii  why 
luiniii:^,  to  their 
«  nation?     Pru- 
',  hut  that  is  till 
:  r.liildn.'M,  iiliout 
man  of  the  ieaiit 
I  he  (;reutcHl 
.iii,  ihat  milium  i 
cliral  haran;^pit, 
e  horrors  of  the 
and  dcviiRtntion 
ic  SSeimtar  from 
'i-nt  rven  furtlicr 
I  to  some  picturcB 
ihi!  cd'cct  of  war 
;  and,  according 
left  with  a  debt 
lilliiip.^;  W)'  muat 
ar.ii  keep  ihein 
nriiiieH  und  two 
I  over,  lifter  ten 
;ouiitir  civil  war, 
Y  rhifftai-'S  fij;ht- 
iilentiul  chair.     1 
It  Wo  are  in  any 
hIiuII  have  any- 
icftuiiiu"  till  our 
changed — never 
vo  bfoome  ener- 
through  tlie  cor-  , 
our    [leoolc,    to 
no  lon;;er  ueaerve 
nd  freedom,  pur- 
;loriou»  dcetls  of 
utioii;  then,  and 
i:ar  the  in<;ioriouii 
•"  military  chief- 
ly the  gentleman 
i!  ulreudy  poHscd 
i^toii  and  a  Jack- 
lose  wars — have 
ir  (without  fij^ht- 
rchascd  votes  of 

I  a  view  of  coun- 
hat  are  thus  en- 
lurs,  to  prcxent  a 

II  liy  our  ceiisuH, 
liite  mules  at  the 

incrcu;4C.     I  ex- 
ry's  office  at  my 
it  numhei's,  with    ' 
ills  that  have  nu  , 


Prom  this  ntntflmftnt  it  nppfnni  tlint — 

••  In  IK-m,  wi-  hml  nr  wliitr  ninl<M  .VtAKIH,  nnil  In  IMO, 
7JM!I,4.'M  -►hiiwlnii  iiii  nvi'ni|i<-  liirri'iuir  iiC  iilKiiil  .'I.M  pir 
i-i'nl.  |H'r  nniiuiii.  Hii|i|Hiiiiii||  Itii'  Iiktih^i'  (ii  riiiiliiiiii'  llii' 
•Jiiiii'  niliii  rriiiii  iHliiiii  jH'UI,  inrliiiiivr,  wr  uliiiiilil  liiivi'  iil 
till!  riiil  III' Unit  yi'iii  f,lH:>,'H't.  Till'  I'liri'iiKiiiU  I"  liaKi'il  ii|iiiii 
a>i  iiviTiivr  aiiiiiinl  liiri  i'ii-i>  iil  Ihii  IitkI  ti'n  yi'iim  i  lull,  iih  tlii' 
|ini|iri'Mlvi'  i>r  hi  iiiiiilrlral  riilni  wii<  kfi'iiIit,  miy  aliinil  'l.'M 
jiiT  I'i'iil.  liir  llii'  pi  rliiil  111  wliirli  niir  pi>|iiilaiii<ii  Ii  niiiipiini'il 
to  iliiiilili',  n  ralriiliitliiii  I'liiiiiili'il  on  tliil  niliii  wmilil  live, 
ill  llif  hut  dm  yiar-i,  Mil  Inrri'imr  of  1,m70,(i:i;i,  iir  II  liiliil  III 
'MI'>,'|M7— nllnriliiiU  KX  hirlliit  nf  inalrii  pnr  iliiy,  "IH  prr 
I'lil.  Ill'  wliiiin,  iivri'i'iihly  !••  Ilii'  lull'  iiC  iiinrtiility.  iillain 
Civ  ai(i'  iil  IM  yiarH,  iiiiil  lliui  Hit!  il.iltti  iiHTiii-i'  iil'  iiiiili'i 
utlaliiiiiii  IH  yi'Hm  iil'  iiiii'  wiiinl  hi-  4I'J,  anil  iiiakiiiu  llii' 
I'nnriMiiiH  nililltiiiii  i>(  l((!,.'MI  aiiiiiiiiMy,  I'upiibli!  iif  liiarliiK 
iiriiH." 

Mr.  Prf'sidenl,  you  mny  cxamino  tii.  iimuh  of 
every  other  nnlioii  on  the  Inrn  of  the  earth  i  find 
iiolhini;  to  ronipare  with  this.  In  this  iciintry, 
the  whole  ronimuiiity  havini;  arms  in  '  I'ii  IiiiiiiIm, 
enables  the  Oovernment  to  mine  n  ,>'iynciil  nnwcr 
thai,  for  defence,  would  be  adeni'iite  to  iiny  iiiid 
every  emnrt;ency.  Is  such  n  iialmn  to  have  ihtiv 
Iran  ninrmed  by  any  force  that  can  be  bni'mhl 
af^ainst  it  by  rimi  or  by  land  ?  No,  sir.  mi.  Tliix 
(jovernment,  on  any  en.eri^ency,  e^n  ihii-i  easily 
cominiind  the  services  of  a  boily  '^f  fiijhtiiitr  men 
which,  when  bniiierlit  toi^cthiir  ly  the  power  of 
steam,  would  conMiitnle  an  army  far  exceeiliis;  in 
number  llial  with  which  the  threat  captain  of 
modern  tiinen  invaded  the  Uiix.siiin  empire.  This 
immense  force  is  wanted  for  defence  only,  and  nut 
for  foreign  conquesls;  all  we  require  in  war  is  the 
ability  to  defend  ourselves. 

In  contrast  with  this,  i\llow  n'3  for  one  moment 
very  lirieOy  to  refer  to  the  position  and  Miililiiry 
strength  ot* Ureal  Uritain,  and  her  neccKsities  for 
its  use,  and  see  whether  she  has  such  a  power  i  i 
her  command  lis  can  jiMlly  be  held  up  in  trrrorem 
over  us,  and  to  which  we  have  been  so  often  re- 
ferred in  this  debate. 

She  has  her  sulijects  scattered  over  the  whole 
extent  of  the  habiuible  globe,  and  nearly  all  of 
them  kept  in  subjection  by  the  [lower  of  her  army 
and  navy.  Shf  dare  ml  trust  arms  in  the.  hamln  of 
her  mhjrrls;  and  it  requires  nearly  the  whole  of  her 
disposable  military  force  to  keep  the  peace,  to  hold 
her  own  people  in  subjection  to  her  monarchical 
Government.  Is  not  this  true  now?  Mas  it  not 
been  true  for  the  Inst  century?  Were  it  not  for 
her  niililury  force,  how  long  would  the  immense 
empire  in  the  Kusl  Indies  remain  a  dependency 
on  England?  How  long  would  down-trodden  Ire- 
land continue  in  the  abject  slavery  she  now  en- 
dures so  impatiently  ?  How  long  would  the  star- 
ving I'opulation  of  even  England  herself  remain  as 
they  now  arc— dying  for  want  of  food  and  the  ne- 
cessaries of  life  ? 

The  first  act  of  the  British  Government  towards 
removing  her  army  from  India,  would  deal  a  mor- 
tal blow  to  her  supremacy  and  authority  there;  and 
the  millions  now  kept  in  abject  slavery  would  then 
strike  for  freedom  and  emancipation  from  the  iron 
rule  of  despotic  power,  and  soon  cfl'ace  ond  utterly 
ilestroy  every  vestige  of  British  domination  under 
which  they  iiiive  suifered  for  centuries  all  t!ie 
degradation  and  misery  that  English  cupidity,  ava- 
rice, and  tyranny  crjld  inllict  on  an  unoU'eiiiling 
people.  And  Ireland — brove  and  generous  Ireland — 
now  much  longer  would  she  remain  a  dependency — 
how  much  longer  sulfer  the  galling  tyranny  of  the 


I  British  Oovernm«ni>  Not  a  moment  longfr,  mr, 
I  than  it  would  re(|uire  to  call  a  p;irliament  of  her 
I  own,  iind  lake  her  rank  as  one  of  the  iiidepeiidcnt 
nntiiins  of  ilie  world.  She  would  lo.itlie  and  Hiitirn 
any  connexion  with  haughty,  ovirlieaiing  rln;;- 
!  land,  that  has  so  long  ennteuined,  enslaved,  nnd 

biiweil  liir  Hiiiis  to  the  diisl. 

I      And  look   at  old   EMgland  herself:   the   whole 
power  of  the  (Joveriimenl  in  the  haiiils  of  the  few, 
and  the  many — \hr  iiiiisses — ground  to  the  dust  by 
arbitrary,  unjust,  and  iniquitous  laws,  by  whicti 
even  the  absolule  necessaries  of  life  are  scarcely 
atlaiimble  by  a  large  portion  of  her  people,  and 
'  the  rood  of  man  iteelf  rendered,  by  their  iniquitous 
'  laws,  too  dear  to  be  purchased  by  her  thousands, 
aiilrly  to  innease  the  eniiroioMH  wealth  of  the  few 
j  huiufi-eds  that  own  iIk^  land  of  ilic  country.     How 
,  long  would  sMi'h   a  population,  thus   oppressed, 
I  eiintiniie  to  .sulVer,  to  starve,  to  die,  from  want  and 
I  I  li?"  ry,  were  the  power  of  her  military  force  dimin- 
ished materially  or  withdrawn? 
I      Sir,  not  a  month  would  be  siifTered  to  pass,  ere 
(he  oppressed  masses  of  her  people  would  rise  in 
i  their  majesty,  and   call   their   rulers   to   an   awful 
account  fur  the  oppressions  under  which  they  have 
!  so  long  sod'ered.     .Sir,  they  would  aliolish  the  ex- 
I  actions  of  the   landlon'    I'cstroy  her  overbearing 
'  aristocracy,  and  keep  U).  with  the  sjiirit  of  the  age, 
1  and  e.Ml.ilfish  our  great  democratic  principle,  that 
"  all  men  are  born  free  and  equal,"  and  tims  pro- 
duce n  revolulion  in  her  existing  fiovernmenl  that 
I  would   materially  change  the  destinies  of  a  large 
I  proportion  of  the  inhabiLinta  of  the  world. 

The  Brilisli  empire — that  most  imperial  Govern- 
ment of  fragments,  surrounding  the  entire  globe, 
and  divided,  as  has  been  well   remarked  in  this 
chamber,  into  "  seveiily-two  diffi  rent   parts,  sepa- 
rated from  each  other  by  water" — requires  a  inil- 
!  ilnry  force  to  preserve  her  supremacy,  '«iid  to  keep 
I  the  peo)iIc  in  subicctiun  in  each  and  every  one  of 
those  parcels  of  her  emjiire.     We,  on  the  other 
j  hiiiiil,  sulTer  no  sninding  army,  require  no  armed 
force  lo  protect  our(  jovernment  ajrainsi  the  jieojilc. 
Our  Government  has  its  foundation  in  the  hearts 
I  and  nlTcctions  of  tlii'  whole  mass  of  our  citizens, 
!  and  each  m'ln  here  feels  that  he  forms  a  pari  of  the 
i  CJovornment  itself,  and  that  on  him  rests  a  portion 
'  of  the  sovereign  power  of  the  people.     Tims  Great 
I  Britain  can  never  command  a  disnosable  force  on 
this  continent,  three  thousand  miles  from  hor  rc- 
I  sources,  sufficient  to  cope  with  our  immense  dis- 
posable means.     She  dare  not  withdraw  any  con- 
siderable  part  of  her  army  from    their  present 
employment,  of  guarding  and  protecting  her  Gov- 
ernment against  her  own  citizens,  and  preserving 
dominion  over  the  fragments  of  her  empire,  scat- 
tered in  every  part  of  the  habitable  globe,  and  con- 
quered from  nearly  every  other  nation  in  the  world, 
and  held  by  the  power  of  the  sword  alone. 

True,  she  may  injure  our  commerce  greatly; 
though  it  may  well  be  doubted  whether  she  would 
not  snfTer  in  her  oirn  commerce  far  greater  injury 
and  loss  than  she  could  inllict  on  otirs.  1  then  re- 
pent, it  is  idle  to  address  our  fears.  Let  us  pursue 
the  even  tenor  of  our  way,  do  justice  to  all,  "de- 
mand nothing  but  what  is  right,  and  .submit  to 
nothing  that  is  wrong,"  regardless  of  the  power 
and  threats  of  even  England  herself,  S3  often 
denominated  "  the  moat  powerful  nation  of  the 


10 


T 


world."  We  have  no  cause  to  fear  her,  or  any 
combination  sho  muy  form.  With  near  two  mil- 
lions of  men  with  arms  in  their  hanil.s,  and  an  an- 
nual increase  of  )icarly  one  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand,  we  muy  well  thank  Heaven  for  Imving 
thus  placed  our  safety  and  destiny  in  our  own 
hands  and  in  our  own  keeping. 

I  trust,  then,  every  attcmnl  to  operate  upon  the 
fears  of  the  Aniericnii  people  will  prove  abortive. 
Who  will  doubt,  with  such  means  at  command, 
that  we  can  successfully  protect  ourselves  against 
the  assaults  of,  not  Great  Britain  only,  but  of  all 
tlie  civilized  world?  Although  fully  sensible  of 
our  strength — our  ability  to  protect  ourselves — yet 
I  am  an  advocate  for  peace.  I  urn  for  applying  the 
golden  rule  of  "doing  to  others  as  we  would  that 
others  should  do  to  us;"  which  doubtless  applies 
with  as  much  force  to  nations  as  to  individuals. 
But,  sir,  I  doubt  whether  a  nation — even  a  Chris- 
tian nation — can  literally  apply  to  herself  the  Scrip- 
tural injunction,  "  Whoever  shall  smite  thee  on  the 
right  cheek,  turn  to  him  the  other  also."  Acting 
under  such  an  injunction,  we  should  soon  exchange 
the  blessings  of  freedom  and  independence,  for 
slavery, degradation, and  infamy.  Whoever,  then, 
desires  to  press  upon  us  as  a  Christian  nation  an 
obligation  to  avoid  war,  I  would  especially  refer 
to  the  Chrisliun,  philanthropic,  English  nation,  the 
sole  aggressors,  and  to  whom  alone  their  homilies 
can  properly  and  appropriately  apply. 

Although,  !VJr.  President,  I  do  not  "believe  that  in 
this  discussion  it  was  proper  to  investigate  the  ex- 
tent of  our  tide  to  Oregon,  as  all  will  agree  that  we 
have  a  title  to  some  portion  of  it,  and  all,  therefore, 
ought  to  be  willing  to  go  for  the  notice;  yet  as  nearly 
every  one  has  investigated  the  title  who  has  pre- 
ceded me  in  tins  debate,  I  shall  detain  you  a  short 
time  in  a  similar  research,  and  will  endeavor  to 
avoid  the  beaten  track,  in  presenting  my  views,  as 
far  as  practicable. 

I  have  said  that  Great  Britain  now  depends  on 
the  Noolka  convention  for  the  whole  ground  of 
her  title  to  Oregon.  She  has  placed  her  reliance 
on  that  convention,  and  I  say  that  thereby  she  has 
committed  a  suicidal  act.  If  she  depends  for  her 
entire  claim  on  the  treaty  of  Noolka  Sound,  and 
avows  this  before  the  world,  then  I  insist  that  she 
destroy*  every  shadow  and  vestige  of  claim  that 
she  ever  had  to  any  part  of  the  territory.  | 

And  here  let  me  again  refer  to  the  statement  of  I 
the  honorable  Senator  from  Virginia,  [Mr.  Arch-  ! 
BR.]    That  gentleman  seems  to  suppose,  that  even  i 
could   we  succeed   in  driving  England  from  her 
claim  on  the  Nootka  convention,  she  has  still  other 
claims  to  which  she  muy  resort.    Allow  me  to 
read  a  short  extract  from  his  speech: 

"The  language  of  tlii'  Knglish  cnmniisaioners  in  lt»!i)  was, 
Uwtt  It  Uii;  coNn.iciiNii  CLAIMS  wiUi  Spain  hail  nut  been 
'FINALLY  AUJUKTKD  lij  tile  Nootlvii  cniiveiition,  Bnd  oli  ar- 
gunienta  and  pri'icnsidns  dcfiiiilivtiy  set  at  rest  liy  the  signa- 
ture of  that  cimvcMtiiin,  notliing  would  b''  more  easy  tlian 
to  dumoM^lrato  Iliat  tlic  cliiinis  of  Urtat  Britain  to  tliatconn- 
try,  «A  0|ipc)S(:d  to  those  of  Spain,  were  co  fur  from  vision- 
ary or  arbitrarily  asunincd,  tliatthey  .stablislicd  more  than 
A  PARITY  or  TiTLK  lo  till'  po-scssi(ni  of  the  country  in  <ini  s- 
tion,  rillier  as  npiinst  Spain  or  any  other  nation.'  'I'iiev 
add,  that  the  riglitt  of  (;roat  llritain  are  'rerorileH  .mrf  detinrd 
in  the  convention.'  They  speak  of  tliem  an  'fixed,'  never 
a»  created,  by  tlie  eoiiventiou;  treating  tlii.i  inatrunicnl  a» 
evidence  of  a  recognition  of  these  preien^ionn,  never  as  iin 
porting  any  grant  or  iniitilution  of  thcin." 

If  the  .honorable  Senator  had  but  read  the  next 


sentence,  he  would  have  seen  that  the  declaration 
of  the  British  negotiator  was  a  mere  idle  boast,  i/ 
slie  had  not  parted  with  her  claim,  she  would 
doubtless  still  have  retained  it,  such  as  it  was.  If  a 
man  had  not  given  a  deed  for  his  farm,  and  vested 
a  fee-simple  title  in  the  purdiascr,  he  doubtless 
might  have  still  owned  it;  and  if  Great  Diilain  had 
not  parted  with  her  claim  of  title  to  Spain,  she 
might  still  have  retained  it — that  is  all.  Unfortu- 
nately for  her,  she  did  part  with  the  title,  and  she 
has  now  none  to  urge.  Let  me  read  to  the  Senator 
the  sentence  to  which  I  refer: 

"  Whatever  that  title  may  have  been,  however,  cither  on 
the  part  of  Orcal  nriliiin,  or  on  the  part  of  Spain,  prior  to 
till!  convention  of  1790,  it  was  from  l>>eiiccforwnrd  no  lon- 
ger to  he  traced  in  vague  narrativen  of  di<poveriea,  several 
of  thcni  admitted  to  ho  apocryplial,  but  in  the  /e-'<  ujkI  sttjm- 
taliont  of  lluit  convention  iltelf," 

Thus  she  is  estopped.  She  cannot  go  behind  her 
own  deed  to  find  and  set  up  title.  I  ilo  apprehend 
that  the  position  taken  by  the  Senator  from  Vir- 
ginia is  wholly  untenable.  The  title  of  England 
was  "  fixed"  by  the  Nootka  convention  as  firmly 
as  if  it  had  been  bought  with  money.  I  refer  to 
the  whole  diplomatic  correspondence  respecting 
Oregon,  from  1826  till  now,  for  proof  that  her  whole 
claim,  from  the  very  commencement,  has  rested 
on  tills;  and  that  she  has  abandoned  all  previous 
title,  resting  on  and  "  limited"  by  that  convention 
alone. 

What  were  the  respective  claims  of  Great  Brit- 
ain and  of  Spain  in  1790?  What  claim  did  Great 
Britain  then  advance?  Her  only  grounds  of  re- 
liance were  the  discovery  of  Cook,  and  a  pretend- 
ed purchase  of  an  Indian  chief,  for  she  wholly 
abandoned  all  pretensions  on  the  ground  of  what 
had  been  done  by  the  freebooter  Drake.  She 
claimed  on  Cook's  discovery,  and  on  some  alleged 
purchase  from  a  certain  Indian  chief.  This  was 
her  claim,  and  nothing  more. 

Yet  I  claim,  and  can  easily  prove,  that  Spain 
discovered  the  coast  before,  and  1  might  also  ad- 
mit, for  argument  sake,  that  the  basis  of  mere  dis- 
covery, without  subsequent  settlement,  is  valueless, 
and  therefore  Great  Britain's  right  to  all  explora- 
tions previous  to  1790,  have  superseded  tlie  Span- 
ish right  from  discovery,  if  she  had  followed  up 
these  explorations  by  settlement.  But  did  she  do 
it?  Not  at  all.  She  made  no  settlements,  but  only 
followed  out  the  Spanish  discovery,  by  a  more 
minute  investigation  and  survey  of  the  co.sts  and 
inlets.  This,  I  insist,  could  not  abrogate  the  pre- 
vious claims  of  Spain,  from  discovery,  Spain 
never  abandoned  that  claim;  she  had  the  inchoate 
right  from  di.scovery,  and  might  at  any  time  com- 
plete that  right  by  actual  settlement;  bui.  neither 
she  nor  Great  Britain  did  this,  save  that  Spain  had 
a  small  settlement  at  Nootku,  and  occupied  it. 
This  Great  Britain  endeavored  to  take  from  her. 
but  the  Spanish  Governor  bravely  resisted  and 
successfully  repelled  her  attack.  What  happened 
after  this  ?  Great  Britain  demanded  sati.ifaction 
from  Spain  for  the  insult  to  her  flag,  but  the  result 
was,  .Hat  Spain  never  did  rcojjnise  any  preexist- 
ing risht  on  the  part  of  Great  Britain  to  territory 
on  the  Northwest  coast.  Nor  did  any  other 
nation  recognise  it.  The  Nootka  convention  was  a 
concession  made  by  a  sovereign  Power,  having  a 
right  to  the  whole  coast  in  which  she  permitted 
Gi'eat  Britain  to  come  there  and  ti-adc  and  fish. 


i 


,  This  was 
I  aver,  there 
(  not  the  shi 

■  gon.     If  s 
discovery, 

V  her;  if  slio 
'  had  made 

Under  w 
:'  marie,'  Fr 
at  the  cmiti 
:  from  Spaii 
!  from  the  I 
j  is  no  Sciia 
i  sooner  diu 
,  bard,  than 

■  rights  at  tl 
]  tamely  dot 
'  not  yet  ht 
i  a  const™  I 

have  care 

E laced  my 
e  in  erroi 
what  rcsp 
production 
,  tiators  was 
i,  ain  has  tlii 
'  she  has  dc 
had;  and 
conventior 
with  the 
and  the  U 
Britain  wi 
on  her  gi 
grant  may 
It  was  at  t! 
for  more  t 
stance  wa 
good,  let  i 
article  of  t 

"Art.  3. 

and  lo  prese 

■     alandiiigbel 

that  tlieir  ri 

le.ti'd  eillie 

the  Paeilie  i 

count  of  till 

1     puriHise  of 

■/,     the  country 

.     ject,  nevert 

'     following  a 

i  Now,  \ 

tide  ?    S\ 

for  two  (1 

;    controvcr 

the  fact  tl 

session. 

,    subjects  1 

J    ing,  fishii 

,,    but  the  s 

,;    OR  might 

,     none  oth 

here  usc( 

would  hi 

at  least,  i 

treaties  1 

J     the  rules 

^     all  the  pi 

j^     ject  lo  t 

j     lowing  a 

j     look  at  t 

4     ilemcnts 


i 


It 


It  the  declaration 
re  idle  boast.  If 
aim,  she  would 
:h  as  it  was.  If  a. 
farm,  and  vested 
!•,  lie  doubtless 
jrcut  Britain  had 
le  to  Spain,  she 
is  all.  Unfortu- 
tlio  title,  and  she 
d  to  tlie  Senator 

however,  cither  nn 
t  iif  Spiiin,  prior  to 
nccliirward  im  lon- 
coveriea,  several 
n  the  tej:l  ami  stipu- 

Jt  po  behind  her 
I  do  apprehend 
nntor  from  Vir- 
litle  of  England 
cntion  as  firmly 
ney.  I  refer  to 
encc  respecting 
)f  that  her  whole 
lent,  has  rested 
ned  all  previous 
that  convention 

I  of  Great  Brit- 
claim  did  Great 
'  grounds  of  re- 
,  and  a  pretend- 
for  she  wholly 
ground  of  what 
r  Drake.  She 
on  some  alleged 
liief.    This  was 

ove,  that  Spain 

might  also  ad- 
isis  of  mere  dis- 
ent,  is  valueless, 
.  to  ail  explora- 
seded  the  Span- 
ad  followed  up 

But  did  she  do 
ments,  but  only 
ry,  by  a  more 

the  co.:sis  and 
irogati!  the  pre- 
overy  Spain 
id  the  inchoate 
any  time  com- 
it;  bui.  neither 
that  Spain  had 
I  occupied  it. 
nke  from  her. 
r  resi.sied  and 
^hat  happened 
Gd  satisfaction 
,  but  tlie  result 

any  preexist- 
in  to  territory 
id  any  other 
ivention  wiis  a 
wer,  having  a 
she  permitted 
rade  and  fish. 


This  was  the  whole  amount  of  that  IrtiUy.     I 
j  aver,  therefore,  that,  in   1790,  Great  Britain  had 
(  not  the  shadow  of  a  claim  to  any  portion  of  Ore- 
gon.    If  she  put  her  pretension  on  the  right  of 
discovery,  Spain  had  discovered  the  country  before 
(  her;  if  she  put  it  on   the  fact  of  settlement,  she 
•  had  made  no  settlement,  but  Spain  had  ut  Nnotka. 
Under  what  circumstances  were  that  coiivei  tion 
:'  marie/    Freely,  or  by  coercion?     It  was  obt.uned 
at  the  cannon  >)  mouth.    She  obtained  a  concession 
}  from  Spain  in  a  way  she  never  will  obti\in  any 
^  from  the  United  States;  for  sure  I  am  that  there 
i  is  no  Senator  here  who  will  not  say  that. he  would 
,'  sooner  draw  the  sword,  and  throw  away  the  scab- 
.  bard,  than  think,  for  one  moment,  of  yielding  up 
',  rights  at  the  mouth  of  the  British  cannon,  as  was 
,   tamely  done  by  the  Government  of  Spain.    I  have 
not  yet  heard  any  attempt,  in  this  debate,  to  give 
■  a  construction  of  the  grounds  of  that  treaty.     I 
have  carefully  examined   its  terms,  and  I  have 
placed  my  own  construction  upon  them.     I  may 
oe  in  error,  but  I  have  been  unable  to  discover  in 
..   what  respect.     If  1  am   right,  then  I  say  that  the 
production  of  thai  convention  by  the  British  nego- 
.    tiators  was  a  suicidal  act.     I  say  that  Great  Brit- 
<   ain  has  thereby  placed  herself  in  a  position  where 
J    she  has  defeated  every  claim  she  ever  could  have 
I   had;  and  I  infer  this  from  taking  in  connexion  the 
tj  convention  of  Nootka, between  England  and  Spain, 
with  the  convention  of  1827,  between   England 
J    and  the  United  SlateL.    The  whole  object  of  Great 
J    Britain  was  to  do  away  the  claim  set  up  by  Spain 
„    on  her  grant  from  the  Pope,     However  such  a 
grant  may  now  be  ridiculed,  the  title  derived  from 
It  was  at  that  time  good  and  valid — never  disputed, 
,    for  more  than  two  hundred  years;  which  circum- 
stance was,  of  itself,  .sufficient  to  make  the  title 
good,  let  its  origin  bo  what  it  might.    The  third 
article  of  the  Nootka  convention  is  in  these  words: 
"Art.  ;i.  In  ordei  to  strcnRthcii  tlie  ImniU  of  frieiiil^hip. 
anil  to  preserve  in  t'lUure  a  prTlccl  hariiiony  and  gooil  under 
8tandiiiK  hetwciiii  the  two  L-oiitrnotiiii;  piirties,  it  ia  ii|;rei'd 
thiit  tlii'ir  ri'spi'ctive  i>nlijeeia  Hhull  not  lie  disturbed  or  ino- 
le.^tiMl  I'iilier  in  n.ivigiuini{  or  inrryinK  on  llieir  fl-!|ieries  in 
the  Pacitic  Ocean  or  in  tlie  South  .Seiis,  or  in  landing  on  the 
coiint  of  iho.'ic  sens  in  plnees  iiotiilreiidy  oeciipied,  for  the 
pnrjiose  of  cnrryini;  on  their  coininerc    '    'i  the  niuivcB  of 
the  country,  or  of  innking  iiettleincnts       re — tlie  whole  sub- 
ject, nevcrthrlesH,  to  tlie  restrictions  specified  in  tlie  three 
foUowing  articles." 

Now,  what  was  the  object  in  agreeing  to  this  ar- 
ticle .'  Spain  had  had  possession  of  the  country 
for  two  or  three  ccnturie.'),  and  there  was  th<  ,i  a 
controversy  between  the  two  nations,  arising  from 
the  fact  that  England  had  molested  her  in  this  pos- 
session. Spain,  in  this  article,  says  that  English 
subjects  might  come  there  for  purposes  of  hunt- 
ing, fishing,  and  trade,  and  might  make  settlements: 
but  the  settlements  referred  to,  are  obviously  such 
OS  might  bo  necessary  to  further  these  objects,  and 
n(me  other.  To  take  the  word  "  settlements"  as 
here  used  in  it,s  ordinary  and  general  acceptation, 
would  lie  to  defeat  oil  the  rest  of  the  article; — that, 
at  least,  is  my  construction  of  it.  I  apprehend  that 
treaties  between  nations  are  to  be  inleipiTled  liy 
the  rules  of  common  sense.  It  is  then  aildcd,  that 
all  the  provisions  in  this  article  are  to  be  held  sub- 
ject to  the  restrictions  contained  in  the  three  t'ol- 
lowingarticles,  viz:  4th,  5tli,  and  Bth.  Now,  if  we 
look  at  the  .5th  article,  we  shall  sec  that  these  set- 
tlements arc  those  subjected  to  the  restriction,  tliut 


they  must  be  north  "  of  places  already  occupied 
by  Spain."  Spain  then  occupied  Nootka,  anil  all 
British  .<ettlement3  arc  here  confined  to  the  coast 
above  Nootka.  But  for  this.  Great  Britain  might 
have  claimed  the  right  of  making  settlements  as 
far  south  as  Mexico,  provided  she  could  have  found 
one  vacant  spot  on  all  that  coast.  This,  I  say,  i.i 
a  lawyer's  construction  of  this  instrument.  The 
5th  article  is  in  these  words: 

"Akt.  5.  As  Well  in  the  places  which  are  to  he  restored  to 
the  Hritish  subjccfc*,  by  virtue  of  the  first  nrti'le,  a.^  in  all 
other  parts  of  the  northwestern  coasts  of  North  America,  or 
of  the  i.^lands  adj.icent,  situate  to  the  north  of  the  parts  of  the 
said  coast  already  occupied  by  Hpain,  wherevertjie  subjects 
of  cither  of  the  two  Powers  shall  linvi.'  made  settlenienU 
since  the  month  of  April,  I7S9,  or  shall  hereafter  make  any, 
the  subjects  of  tlie  other  shall  have  free  access,  nnd  shall 
carry  on  their  trade  withoii'  any  disturbance  or  molestation.'' 

Now,  where  was  the  most  northerly  point  occu- 
pied by  S|iain  ?  It  was  unquestionably  at  Nootka; 
for  when  Vancouver  came  uack,  he  found  at  that 
place  ten  houses,  in  the  possession  of  Spanish  oc- 
cupants. He  very  modcsdy  claimed  the  whole  as 
belonging  to  Great  Britain;  but  the  Spanish  com- 
mandant utterly  repudiated  any  such  claim,  and 
offered  to  restore  to  him  a  little  spot  on  the  beach 
ot  Friendly  Cove,  (about  a  quarter  of  an  acre,) 
where  Mcares  had  erected  two  little  huts.  Van- 
couver contended  that  the  most  northerly  settle- 
ment of  Spain  was  far  below,  at  the  Bay  of  San 
Francisco;  but  the  f.ict  was  the  reveise.  It  was 
at  Nootku;  and  that  settlenunt  was  never  restored. 
Although  Great  Britain  pieparod  an  armament 
which  cost  her  fifteen  millions  of  dollars,  she  never 
got  it  back  from  Spain.  If  it  ever  was  surrendered 
to  her,  the  proof  of  such  surrender  would  have 
been  in  her  archives,  and  she  could  have  produced 
it;  but  this  she  never  did,  and  the  ad'air  was  suf- 
fered to  drop.  Nor  is  this  surprising.  The  rea- 
son for  it  is  ]ilain  and  obvious.  England  bec.ime 
involved  in  ihc  wars  of  the  French  Revolution, 
and  she  actually  forgot  Nootka  and  the  Nootka 
convention  for  thirty-four  years,  until  reminded  of 
it  by  Mr.  Rush  in  1824. 

I  have  mude  the  assertion  that  the  intentions  of 
the  parties  are  to  be  gathered  from  the  instrument 
itself — from  a  fair  construction  of  its  terms;  but 
that  position  may  be  strengthened  by  the  cotem- 
porancous  exposition  by  the  parties.  We  can 
show  that  the  British  Parliament  itself  gave  to  the 
treaty  this  construction.  In  the  debates  in  the 
British  Parliament,  we  find  this  convention  spoken 
of  as  unworthy  of  England,  and,  in  fact,  literally 
sneered  at.  This  is  a  matter  of  history;  and  is  it 
to  be  supposed  that,  had  the  statesmen  of  that  time 
any  notion  of  the  value  to  thein  of  that  conven- 
tion, which  is  now  attached  to  it,  they  would  have 
allowed  the  representations  which  were  made  in 
Parliament  to  go  forth  to  the  world  uncontradicted  f 
I  cannot  imagine  such  a  thing.  It  is  incompre- 
hensible, and  no  nnin  can  believe  it.  Lt,i  me  refer 
to  this  matter  for  a  moment.  The  Duke  of  Mont- 
rose, in  the  House  of  Lords,  on  the  occasion  of  a 
vote  of  thanks  being  proposed  to  the  King  for  the 
negotiation  of  the  convention,  says: 

"  tVc  arc  not  only  restored  to  Nootka,  hiit  tie  mny  parti- 
rip'tte  in  li  morn  iiorthfrn  sHticriicnt,  li'v^i^  nhnuld  tind  at  any 
time  that  a  more  northern  situation  would  bi^  pri  firahle  for 
tin;  (Mrrjiiig  on  of  tlie  tr.ide."— fm/iumeii/ari/  Hi-liry,  voU 
as,  p.  9:)4. 

This  is  the  language  of  an  individual  who  was 


If 


in  favor  of  the  Government;  and,  from  what  he 
says,  it  is  cloar  he  did  not  bfilieve  a  word  of  the 
sentiments  now  advanced  liy  the  British  Minister. 
After  h)oUinic  well  into  the  matter,  after  consulting 
all  snurrcs  of  information,  having  the  best  oppor- 
tunity of  hcariii?  all  that  could  be  said  in  relation 
to  the  claims  of  Great  Hritain,  lie  contents  himself 
with  saying  that  they  had  ar,c(uired  the  right  of 
settlement  north  of  Nootka  Sound. 

In  the  House  of  Commons,  Mr.  Fox  .said: 

'•  lie  w;ti  iu;  luiii'li  a  frieiiil  lo  the  <'I:iiiiM  (if  Hpiiin,  sann- 
tion<Ml  liy  tlir  Iriiiiy  of  IJtroi'ht,  as  C'oiiiit  Florida  llliiaca,  iir 
any  Spauisli  Miiiis-UT,  hccuwc  thctf  ircrc  foutt'tfil  inju\tirc. 
These  wirr.  iin  cxc'ti-nic  ri.;lit  o/'icrrit Jn/,  iiavi;,'atiiiM,  aatl 
coaunen'r,  on  the  seas  aad  coasts  (ifSiKitiiHli  Aineriea.  TIk^ 
abijurd  and  <'\trava<f;int  clainiii  arose  I'roni  nxH'niliiiK  tlii' 
term  8paMi^ll  Ara'Tica,  lo  scus  and  cittstii  tth*:rc  S^itiin  hiul 
no  ritihtitforcupinn^y.  To  what  did  wt'  (iltjfcl  hclbri',  I)ut  to 
Uie  indefiniti'  limits  of  Hpani-ili  Aan'riia.'  Thi'  objection 
etill  rcinairiod  ;  lor  llic  tiniiUi  olV*|ianish  America  were  flill 
undefiaed."— p.  9U1. 

Following  up  the  same  argument,  he  adds: 

"  Where  our  admilt''ii  rijht  of  settlement  on  the  nortli- 
west  coast  coanneni'ed  was  completely  undefined,  ff  U 
UHU  said  at  Nootkit,  kc  did  itot  know  that  Nootka  woulil  be  re- 
aoTCdr'—Ihiil. 

And  iigain: 

"Thus  we  had  ^ren  up  iiHri^hl  to  sptlle,  cxei'pi  for  flin- 
porary  ;iiirpo^es.  to  Ihcsctdh  of  the  Spimi'^h  'tlilemn\ti,  or  in 
the  inlCTvi'.U  luiwecn  them,  if  they  happened  to  he  distant. 
We  had  iihtaiiied  an  ndiaisHiun  of  our  ri^^ht  to  settle  lu  tlie 
nortli,  and  even  that  we  had  not  olitained  with  clearness. 
As  S^paiiish  senletnents  wen;  the  only  mark  of  limits,  sup- 
pose we  were  to  meet  with  one  farther  to  tlie  north  iliaii 
w«  expected,  and  a  dispute  were  to  arise,  wlietlier  it  was 
new  or  old,  it  would  he  senile  dilficuity  to  send  out  our 
builders  to  decide,"  Slc.—ji.  9<j.".. 

Mr.  Fox  was,  it  is  admitted,  the  leader  of  the 
Oppostion  in  Puiliamcnt,  and  was  compIainii>g  of 
and  objeeling  to  the  Nootka  convention;  bui  'lid 
Mr.  Pitt,  the  then  Prime  Minister,  controvert  le 
positions  taken  by  his  talented  opponent.'  Did  ai 
member  of  the  British  Cabinet?  Were  the  positioi.i 
controverted  by  any  one  during  the  debate.'  No, 
sir,  not  a  word  of  it.  Mr.  Pitt,  in  his  response, 
only  claimed  that  they  had  additional  facilities  for 
their  fisheries,  had  a  temporary  use  of  the  territory 
north  of  Nootka  for  hunting  and  trading  with  the 
natives,  and  the  erc(;tion  of  temporary  huts  in  fur- 
therance of  those  objects.     Ho  says: 

"  If  they  had  .icipiired  no  territorial  riijht".  they  had  gained 
Home  advantages  tlieydid  not  before  posfes^." 

I  believe  this  is  perfectly  conclusive,  and  shows 
iiow  this  convention  was  understood  at  the  time. 
It  always  appeared  to  me,  Mr.  President,  that  the 
views  tiiken  by  the  British  Minister  were  suicidal 
of  the  (tlaims  of  Great  Britain.  Mr.  Pakenham  has 
said  this  convention  is  in  force  up  to  the  present 
time.  Hut  let  me  ask,  if  it  is  in  force,  how  does  it 
happen  that  she  never  claimed  under  it  the  country 
down  to  the  bay  of  San  Francisco.'  How  dots  it 
happen,  that  Great  Britain,  who  has  shown  it  her 
constant  purpose  to  lay  hold  of  every  foot  of  this 
earth  she  can ,  has  never  claimed  as  far  as  the  bay 
of  San  Frai.cisco?  Why,  she  felt  she  had  no  right; 
and  if  she  has  ever  done  so  since,  it  was  altogether 
an  afterthought,  for  the  jiurpose  of  opposing  our 
claims.  Nothing  else  can  account  for  it.  Great 
Britain  slept  over  her  ab-^^iud  claim  for  more  than 
thirty  years,  and  until  she  found  it  necessary  to 
adduce  new  and  more  plausilde  arguments  to  sus- 
tain her  unfounded  pretensions,  aiid  endeavor  to 
rebut  and  weaken  the  ''irrefragable  iUuts  and  urgu- 


merita"  by  which  our  American  rights  were  de- 
monstrated, and  she  was  driven  to  claim  imder  the 
Nooika  convention,  becjiusc  she  had  nothing  else 
to  bring  forward — nothing  else  to  rely  on. 

I  will  not  go  through  the  argument,  as  the  Secre- 
tary of  Sl;ile  has  done,  to  show  that  tlie  convention 
was  terminated  by  the  war.  It  is  not  needed  to  sus- 
tain my  argument.  But  the  exposition  of  Great 
Britain  herself  shows  that  the  convention  was  en'led 
by  the  war  of  179(5.  What  does  Mr.  Pakenham 
say  on  lliis  point.'  His  ground  is,  that  there  are 
some  national  rights  which  survive  a  war;  but  he 
has  not  pointed  them  out.  He  says  the  treaty  was 
revivial  in  1814;  but  1  contend,  that  if  it  ever  was 
dead,  it  could  not  be  revived  by  the  treaty  of  1814, 
because  there  were  o//ier  parties  then  besides  Great 
Britain  and  Spain  who  had  claims  on  the  coast  as 
well  as  themselves.  We  were  actually  in  posses- 
sion of  the  country  at  the  time,  and  could  not  be  put 
out  by  the  revival  of  the  Nootka  convention. 

There  is  one  argument  not  used  by  Mr.  Bu- 
chanan, or  any  one  else  that  1  have  seen,  which  1 
consider  as  having  great  force.  If  the  Nootka  con- 
vention is  still  in  force,  what  became  of  it  in  our 
own  convention  of  1827  ?  In  1818,  we  were  not  in 
p' sstssion  of  theSfiunish  title;  but  when  it  was  re- 
newed in  18-^7,  we  had  then  all  tiic  rights  of  Spain, 
including soDtrff^nJi/, the  cmiiifiUt/oiimiii,  and  a/J  the 
rights  she  had  under  the  Nootka  convention.  If, 
then,  ihe  convenlioii  is  In  force  at  this  hour,  how  is 
it  possible  this  was  not  included  in  (he  convention 
of  1827 .'  It  was;  and  Great  Britain  and  the  Uni- 
ted Suites  owned  all  the  claims  to  Oregon  which 
were  then  in  existence;  all  her  rights  under  the 
Nootka  convention  were  "limited"  to  joint  occu- 
pancy with  Spain — Spain  puts  us  in  her  shoes. 
When  the  convention  for  joint  occujiaiicy  is  ter- 
minaU^d,  England  goes  back  to  her  original  rights, 
'lights  to  what.'  To  joint  occupancy .'  For  be  it 
bserved,  F.ngl.md  ahniidomtd  to  Spain  all  her  claims 
I  I  or  to  1790,  on  entering  into  the  Nooika  conven- 
tion, and  declares  to  the  world  that  her  whole  claim 
or  pretension  is  "limited"  to  a  joint  occupancy  with 
Spain,  and  her  right  is  only  to  be  found  in  "  the 
text  and  stipulations"  of  that  convention;  and 
Spain  having,  on  the  22d  of  July,  1K19,  transfer- 
red her  rights  to  us,  England  has  a  joint  occupancy 
with  us  by  the  convention  of  1827,  by  the  3d  article 
of  whii'.h  It  is  iigrecd,  that  nothing  in  the  convention 
"  shall  be  construed  to  impair,  or  in  any  manner 
'  affect,  the  claims  which  either  of  the  contracting 
'  parties  may  have  to  any  part  of  the  country  west- 
'  ward  of  the  Stony  or  Rooky  Mountains. "  Now, 
then,  pray  what  are  her  "cloinis,"  which  are  not 
"affecled" or  "impaired".'  She  has  none  whatever 
but  that  of  "jointoccupancy' 'under  the  Nootkacon- 
vention,  which  was  merged  in  the  convention  of 
1827,  and  thus  the  termination  of  her  "joint  occu- 
pancy" would  not  "aflect"  or '•impair"  her  "joint 
occupancy."  This  isaeon'radiclion  in  terins,  and 
shows  that  the  only  claims  that  are  not  "aflccted" 
or  "impaired,"  must  be  those  of  sovereignty,  tmincnt 
dimain,  or  title  of  some  kind  ;  not  one  of  which 
dees  she  possess,  or  even  claim.  This  may  be  call- 
ed "chopping  logic"  by  gentlemen  on  the  other  side 
of  the  chamber;  if  it  is,  let  them  show  how  Great 
Britain  can  escape  the  conclusion.  I  think  the  in- 
ference irresistible,  and  that  the  "ifuod  eral  demon- 
sirandun.'"  of  the  mathematician  migh'      .  fairly 


ilid  legitima 

1st  claim,  b 

.  itory  west 

timplelely  - 
erself  out  ( 
0tove,  the  n 
(ossess,  if n 
II  existence 
I  pray  y< 
the  Noot 
laimed    by 
Irituin  coul 
^nce  to  vest 
Souvcr's    ex 

1792,  and 
ling  of  En; 
ki  violation  ( 
Nootka  eon^ 
it,  as  the  Bri 
they  ought  i 
frr,  and  di 

iampling  u 
on.  The  f 
ements  sul 
rnzcr's  rivi 
|h  giving  exi 

J  ere  made  s 
hich  she  cr 
'  And  nlloM 
[1  article  of 
id  Great  I 
any  co 
jpnrty  on  th 
'ward  of  the 
^e  whole  c 
Ian  possessi 
ion  ea&t  of 
lie  Rocky 
rough  Po 
■j.ence  a  line 
Bierefrom  to 

Seridinn  to  I 
gion  is  inci 
id  1827,  an 
lice  lo  in  i 
anifest  our 
(id  the  righ 
ined  wheir 
made. 
1  cannot,  '. 
jnoticed   tl 
gained  by  t 
ion  and  CI 
our  own 
a  bBrc,na 
do  not  d 
Irny  disco^ 
•itisli  subj 

a  England 
d  the  riv 
1B05-6,  and 
iftgs,  and  f 
'nr  intentio 
c  matters 
[h  Governr 
.  )9, 1810, 
lent)  made 
j  the  Cnlu 
qlt  the  Okai 


I  rights  were  de- 
1  cliiini  under  the 
hud  niithing  else 
rely  on. 

cnt.as  tlicSccrc- 
;it  tlic  convention 
lot  needed  losus- 
losiiion  of  Great 
cntionwascn'Ied 

I  Mr.  Pakenham 
is,  that  there  are 
vc  11  war;  but  he 
ys  the  treaty  was 
at  if  it  ever  was 
le  treaty  of  1814, 
en  besides  Great 
B  on  the  coast  as 
:tuaily  in  posses- 
could  nut  be  put 

;onvention. 

sed  by  Mr.  Bu- 

vc  seen,  which  I 

the  Nootka  con- 
amc  of  it  in  our 
i,  we  were  not  in 
t  when  it  was  re- 
;ria;lus  of  Spain, 
Duiin,  and  all  the 
convention.  If, 
this  hour,  how  is 
n  the  convention 
lin  and  the  Uni- 
o  Oregon  which 
•ii^hts  under  the 
"  to  joint  occu- 
is  in  her  shoes. 
iccu|)ancy  is  ter- 
r  orij:;inal  rights, 
mcy  .>  For  be  it 
lin  all  lier  claims 
Noolk.i  convon- 

hcr  whole  claim 

ocmipancy  with 
3  found  in  "  the 

onvention;  and 
ISlit,  transfer- 
joint  occupancy 
by  the  3d  article 

II  the  convention 
in  any  manner 
the  coiitractiiig 

le  country  west- 
itains."  Now, 
'  which  are  not 
s  none  whatever 
the  Nootka  con- 
3  convention  of 
ler  "joint  occu- 
)air"  her  "joint 
nt\  in  terms,  and 
3  not  "allected" 
crftgii/!/,tHiittcjW 
t  one  of  which 
'hi.s  may  be  call- 
in  the  other  side 
how  how  Great 
I  think  tliu  in- 
luod  erat  dcmon- 
niigli'      .  fairly 


13 


A  legitimately  applied  to  it,  and  that  she  lias  no  i 
St  claim,  by  her  own  showing,  to  one  foot  of  ler-  | 
tory  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.    She  has  1 

timplctely  tripped  up  her  own  heels,  and  thrown 
rrsclf  out  of  all   shadow  of  riaim  beloir,  or  even 
(fhove,  the  miigical   line  of  54°  40' — lUid  that  we  I 
ossess,  if  not  a  perfect,  undoubtedly  the  best  title  j 
1  existence  to  the  whole.  '  j 

I  pray  you  to  observe,  Mr.    President,   thai,  | 
the  Nootka  Sound  convention  is  in  force,  as  i 
aimed    by    the    Briti.sh    Minister,    then    Grcal  | 
ritain  could  have  done  no  act  during  its  exist-  ' 
nee  to  vest  any  exclusive  right  in  herself.     Van-  I 
louver's    exploration   of  the  Cohimbin  river  in  | 

1792,  and  'aking  possession  in  the  name  of  the  | 
[ing  of  England,  was  «  void  act  on  his  part,  and  ; 
bi  violation  of  the  "text  and  stipulations"  of  the  I 
Wootka  convention;  and  instead  of  claiming  under  I 
it,  as  the  British  Qovcrnnient  have  modestly  done,  | 
they  ought  at  the  time  to  have  cashiered  Vancou-  i 
trr,  and  dismissed  him  from  her  service,  for  thus 

iampliiig  upon  the  good  fkith  of  the  British  na- 
on.    The  exploration  of  Mackenzie,  and  the  aoi- 
emcnts  subsequently  made  in  that  territory,  on 
razer's  river  and  elsewhere,  cannot  be  claimed 
is  giving  exclusive  rights  to  Great  Britain.    Tlu^y 
■  ere  made  solely  under  that  convention,  and  und;'r 
hich  she  can  claim  no  exclusive  ri^ht  for  herself. 
;  And  allow  me  to  observe,  in  addition,  that  the 
jjd  article  of  the  treaty  bct-veen  the  United  Slates 
ind  Great  Britain,  of  2(lth  October,  1818,  applies 
•>  "  any  coimtry  that  may  be  claimed  by  eillier 
4partv  on  the  northwest  coast  of  America,  west- 
^wurQ  of  the  Stony  Mountains;"  and  thus  includes 
*  e  whole  country  from  latitude  42^  to  the  Rus- 
an  possessions  in  latitude  54°  40',  and  all  the  re- 
on  cast  of  the  Russian  possessions  and  west  of 
le  Rocky  Mountains — the   Ru.'^sian   line  going 
rough    Pordand    channel   to   latitude   5G°,   anH 
"j.ence  a  line  parallel  to  the  coast  ten  marine  leagtu's 
tliercfrom  to  141st  degree  of  loncitude,  and  in  that 
Acridian  to  the  Frozen  ocejin.    All  which  northern 
lygion  is  included  within  the  conventions  of  1818 

J  id  1827,  and  which  1  have  never  .seen  any  refer- 
ice  to  in  ony  speech  delivered;  and  yet  it  is 
anifest  our  joint  occupancy  extends  to  the  whole, 
d  the  rights  of  each  to  every  jiart  is  to  he  deter- 
incd  whenever  a  division  of  territorial  right.s  i^hall 
made. 

I  cannot,  Mr.  President,  permit  my.self  to  jiass 
noticed   the  title  which  we  have  to  the  country 
nined  by  the  waters  of  the  Columbia,  by  the  ex- 
ion  and  enterprise  of  our  own  citizens — acquired 

our  own  discovery,  exi>loralion,  and  .'jcltltinent. 
a  bare,  naked  discovery  is  not  deemed  sufficient, 

do  not  depend  upon  that  alone.  That  ('aptain 
ray  discovered  the  Columbia  river  before  any 
itish  subject  had  seen  it,  is  now  conceded  even 

SKnghind  herself;  and  that  Mr.  .TefTcrson  first 
d  the  river  explored  by  Lewis  and  Clarke,  in 
W05-6,  and  shortly  afterwards  published  their  do- 
Iftgs,  and  thus  publicly  proclaimed  to  the  world 
^ir  intention  to  occupy  and  settle  that  country, 
me  matters  of  history,  as  well  known  to  the  Brit- 
■h  Qovcrnmcnl  as  our  own.  We  subsequently  fin 
1B09, 1810,  and  1811,  and  prior  to  any  other  settle- 
ment) matle  the  seitlcmentof  Astoria,  nt  the  mouth 
of  the  Columbia  river,  and  also  established  a  post 
on  the  Okanagan,  "Ix  hundred  miles  up  the  river; 


another  at  the  mouth  of  the  Spokan,  fifty  mile'* 
higher  up;  and  others  on  the  Kooskooskee  nn«l 
Willamette  rivers;  and  (although  the  Nootka  con- 
vention is  claimed  by  F.nglund  to  have  been  then  in 
full  force,  by  which  she  sets  up  a  pretence  to  h 
right  of  joint  occupancy  over  that  whole  region) 
without  a  whisper  of  remonstrance  or  objection  on 
her  part.  Our  hands  were  untied  then — no  con- 
vention controlled  us;  we  claimed  a  right  l)y  virtue 
of  our  purchase  of  Louisiana,  whether  rightfully 
or  not,  I  do  not  derin  it  necessary  for  my  present 
argur  ;ent  to  inquire.  If  any  nation  had  a  right  to 
object,  it  waii  Spain,  and  S)iain  alone;  and  .she  did 
not  object.  1  claim  I  then,  that  our  right  to  the 
country  drained  by  the  waters  of  the  Columbia, 
founded  on  our  own  discovery,  exploration,  and 
settlement,  was  conqilete  and  perfect,  agreeably  to 
the  nto.'tt  stringent  requisitions  of  the  law  of  nations, 
consecrated  by  the  universal  practice  of  all  nalior:?, 
in  relation  to  the  American  continoiit;  and  this  view 
Great  Britain  herself  has  fully  recognised,  and  by 
her  acts  fully  ackncwiedged  our  title.  We  were 
thus  in  possession  jf  the  valley  of  the  Columbia  al 
the  commencemer  :  of  the  late  war;  and  during  that 
war  our  po.sscssiono  'yere  captured,  and  passed  into 
the  hands  of  Great  Briiain.  By  the  treaty  of  Ghent, 
"all  territories,  jiKices,  and  posscsuuns  whatsoever, 
taken  by  cither  party  from  the  other  during  the 
war,  &c.,  shall  be  restored  without  delay.''  Our 
Government  demanded,  after  the  restoration  of 
peace,  that  those  possessions  should  be  restored. 
After  some  negotiation,  and  some  delay,  the  whole 
was  restored  to  us — an  account  of  which  1  ask  the 
indulgence  of  the  Senate  to  read: 

"  Mr.  Biigot  [the  llrili.-li  I'lenipoli'iiilnry  nt  VViisliington] 
at  tlie  aiune  time  coinmiinicatetl  tlic  eiriiiiiistancv!!  ti>  liiH 
(Jovcrnment,  and  they  became  the  mihject  of  didcuDsion  ha- 
twcca  Lord  Castlori'iu;)),  the  Hriti.-'h  Secretary  or  Korcig. 
.Afl'nirs,  and  Mr,  Kiixh,  the  .\iiicricaii  I'lonipntontjary  at 
Ijondoii.  Lord  Ctislleri^aijli  proposed  that  the  qiiestinn  re- 
Hpicliiig  tlic  cli<iiii  to  the  post  on  the  Cohiiiibia  xhould  be 
ri-rcTri'il  to  coniiiiiSHioners,  aa  many  other  itisputi^d  |>oinUi 
liad  been,  ngni'alily  to  the  treaty  (il'Cliint;  to  wliioli  Mr. 
Itiisli  objected,  for  the  ^^ilnpte  ru.'isons  that  t!io  spot  was  in 
the  |iosiie9Hion  ol'  tlie  .Americans  liel'ore  tlie  war;  that  it  fell, 
liy  belligerent  capture,  into  ttiu  liniids  of  tlic  Brilisli  during 
tlie  war ;  anil  that  '  un<lcr  a  treaty  which  stipulated  the  iiiu- 
tn;il  restituUon  of  all  places  reduced  by  tlie  anna  of  either 
party,  the  right  of  the.  United  Statiis  to  imincdiatu  and  full 
rt'pos.seti.sion  could  not  be  iinpugneil.' 

'•The  British  Scrrctary,  upon  Ihu,  admiltel  !!:■  rij^ht  of  Ike 
Jtmerican^  to  lie  reimlutci,  and  to  be  the  parly  in  jjosscsxion 
irliile  trcatini;  on  lite  title ;  though  he  regrcttjil  tliat  die  Gov- 
ernment of  tlie  United  State:*  .should  hiive  employed  means 
to  obtain  restitution  nhieli  might  had  to  diirienllii's. 

■'  Mr.  Kiish  had  no  iipprehen^iionKofthat  kind;  ami  it  was 
finally  agreed  that  tlii}  |io.4t  should  be  rct:ored  1 1  tlin  Ameri- 
cana, and  that  the  rpiestion  of  title  to  the  territory  should 
be  discussed  in  Uie  negotiation  as  to  limita  and  other  niat- 
ters  which  wiLs  soon  to  be  commeneed.  Loril  UathurKt, 
tlie  Dritish  Secretary  for  the  Colonies,  accordingly  sent  to 
llie  agents  of  the  Northwest  Conipnny  at  the  month  of  the 
t'olumbin  a  despatch,  directing  them  to  aliord  du.'  facilities 
for  the  rcoeeupation  of  tin.'  po.-it  at  that  point  by  the  Ameri- 
cans :  and  an  order  to  tlic  same  efTect  wa*  iil.so  sent  from  the 
Admiralty  to  the  coiiiinander  of  the  British  naval  forces  in 
the  racifie." 

The  rights  of  the  parties  n  regard  to  thepo,M«s' 
sinn  of  the  country  having  thus  been  adjusted  and 
defined,  the  restoration  was  accordingly  made,  as 
the  following  official  documents  will  show: 

"  In  ohedence  to  the  ermiinand  '  •■  his  Roynl  Highness  the 
Prince  Kegent,  signitled  in  a  ilespateii  from  the  right  honor- 
able the  Earl  Bathurst,  adLires.<i'.l  to  the  partners  or  agents 
of  the  Nortliwest  Company,  bearing  dale  the  27lh  of  Jan- 
uary, 1818,  and  in  obedience  to  a  sulnequciil  order  dated 


.j.!ji2EariSiJat 


14 


the  2Slh  of  July,  from  W.  H.  Sheriff,  Esq.,  cAotain  of  his 
Miv|n>ty'8  Hhip  Andromache,  vc,  the.  unliT\igned,  do,  in  con- 
formilijto  I  lie  first  urticle  of  the  trci.lij  of  Olient,  restore  to 
the  Gox-crtimcnt  of  the  United  States  jiiirou^U  ita  i^iiit,  J. 
B.  Prnvost,  Eiii.jtkt  sctHemctU  of  Fort  George,  on  fc'ic  Cb- 
lumHii  river, 

"(Jivcii  iinilcr  our  hiinilsi,  in  triiilicBto,  nt  Fort  Onorge, 
(Coluiiikiu  river,)  this  6tli  iliiy  of  Dohiber,  IhlH. 

"F.  MICKEY, 
'  "  Oiaitain  of  Mil  Miijfsty's  ikip  UlOKSom. 

"J.KKITII, 
"  Of  the  Sorthue-it  Com^jotii/." 

The  acceptance  on  the  pnrt  of  the  United  States 
ia  in  these  words: 

'•I  do  hrri'hy  noknowlcdRC  to  hiivo  thiH  dny  received,  in 
behalf  uf  the  Governnicnt  of  the  United  HtateM.  the  ponnsion 
of  the  tcltlernciit  desi^niited  abov^,  in  eonforniity  to  tile  first 
article  of  the  treaty  of  Glient. 

"(Jiven  undiT  my  hiiiid,  in  triplieate,  at  Fort  George, (Co- 
lumbiu  river,)  this  Gtli  day  of  Oetoher,  IHI8. 

"J.  B.  I'KKVOST, 
» ^Agenl  of  the  United  Slutcs." 

On  the  consummation  of  these  acts  of  the  resto- 
ration of  the  valley  of  the  Columbia  river,  in  con- 
formity with  the  treaty  of  Ghent,  and  the  acknowl- 
edgment of  our  right  "  to  be  llio  party  in  posses- 
sion while  ueating  on  the  title,"  Mr.  Urcenhow 
remarks: 


I  thitn,  M 
pvinp;  the  m 
provided  foi 


few  on  this,  will  justify  themselves  to  the  Ameri' 
can  people  in  thus  proposing  to  give  up  any  por- 
tion of  the  valley  of  the  Columbia,  thus  shown 
to  be  ours,  without  an  iulverse  claim  having  any  .  |,^ord  no  jut 
just  foundation.  If  we  had  no  other  title  or  claim,  * 
our  own  would  be  full  and  conclusive  to  latitude 
530. 

The  President,  having  made  an  offer  to  settle 
our  boundary  on  the  parallel  of  49°,  "  in  deference  , 
alone  to  what  had  been  done  by  his  predecessors," 
it  has  been  gravely  claimed  in  argument  here  that 
he  is  bound  by  that  offer,  although  withdrawn; 
the  offer  having  been  thrice  made  by  his  prede- 
cessors, in  lyi8,  1824,  luid  1826.  I  o^mnot  agree 
to  this  doctrine.  All  offers  of  compromise  arc 
efforts  to  buy  one's  peace,  and  therefore,  under  the 
wise  provisions  of  our  law,  are  not  suffered  to  be 
adduced  us  evidence.  I  fail  to  see  any  difference 
between  nations  and  individuals  in  this  respect. 
The  reason  is  surely  tlie  same.  What  nation 
would  ever  make  a  proposal  or  offer  of  a  conces- 
.?ion  for  the  sake  of  peace,  if,  against  her  will  and 
consent,  it  was  always  binding  upon  her,  accepted 
or  not  ?    The  gentleman  from  Georgia  [Mr.  Ber 


rilm]  says  this  principle  cannot  apply  to  nations, 

./^7JJ'«1'"^''"?"'"r''''^-^Tl"''''^''T''^"'^'^f  "•f'YIl'eMUsn   they  have  no  common  arbiter.     1  deem 
Utiiled  StiUea  /Miiiig  hecn  hoisted  in  its  atrud  oeer  the  tort,      ...  '  ,     ,  mi  1  i- 

,m!  S.J  i/ol  h,  the  bloom.  il>>s  's  no  reason  whatever.     The  rule,  as  applica- 

•'  The  documents  cited— the  only  one?  ichich  passed  bctiiren  \  ble  to  individuals,  is  not  based  upon  such  a  con 
thx' commmhuers on  Ihe  occaiioti     — .-. //:... -..-.i  #- .1-...  ii.j  1     ■■        .•  1     .  .         •■         , 

fW)  res(-Ti'rt/ion  or  excejition 
Itritiiin,  and  thiit  the  resti .  _ 

States  n-'is  complete  and  umondiliona."  |  and  the  same  reason  exists  m  respect 


:a — i/ic  ojiijf  'nics  trnivit-  ftnasca  oviut'tni  |  tjm  itf    iiiui viuiiu'r*)  la    iiul  uuci^u    itMuii    oui^ii  u.  v^uii- 

he  occmio)i~,tre  sufu lent  tnshiw  that  \si^f.rixUon,  but  upon  sound  policy,  to  encourage 
'fS?.;:;U"'o/X.w:rM/S  Attempts  at  compromise,  anJ  to  avoid  litigation; 
d utuondilionul.'''  1  aud  the  same  reason  exists  in  respect  to  nations, 


IS  a  peace  m 
of  the  coun 
measure  thai 
is  setting  str 
doubtless  ye 
soiis  of  the 
and  flocks  ai 
to  Oregon,  a 
it;  and  scttii 
lich  subjects 
nd  servant 
bdottcd  the  w 
lind  trading 
^ion,  and  ha 
*vcr  the  cou 
only  in  term 
11   within    I 
ritish  Mini 
'or  their  ow 
ssuraice  dc 
hat  have  be 
itizens,  uni! 
ne  of  her  s 
can  cxpatriu 
evidence  to  s 


These  transactions  occurred  in  the  year  1818,  "'"l  ^'^'>  "r':''"^''  ^^'T'  ''"'  ."a"ons  tlo  now  have 
and  in  the  month  of  October,  being  the  same  year  ^^"'"".1""  arbuers  The  opuiions  and  judgment  ol 
.-ind  mouth  in  which  the  convention  of  joint  occu-  the  civili/.ed  world  are  now  those  arbuers  between 
nancy  was  entered  into.  I  nations,  mid  to  which  all  civilized  Governments 

And  to  show  the  view  entertained  by  our  own  I  fil'll  't  necessary  to  submit.     1  hold,  then,  that  no 
Government  of  this  surrender,  I  beg  leave  to  read 
from  the  instructions  of  Mr.  Clcy,  when  Secretary 
of  State,  to  Mr.  Gallatin,  our  Mi'iiister  to  England, 
dated  19th  June,  1826: 

"  It  was  stated  by  Oie  British  Plenipotentiaries  to  Mr. 
Rush,  tliat  the  surrender  to  the  United  States  of  the  post  at 
Uic  iiioulh  of  (Mlumbia  river  was  in  fulliliiient  of  the  stipu- 
liitioiiH  of  the  (irnt  article  of  the  treaty  .if  Glieiitj  without  af- 
fectinR  que^tionH  of  right  on  eitlnr  side.  It  18  most  true 
that  the  rentoration  win  in  conformity  to  that  article,  but 
tlierc  is  nothing  in  the  terms  of  the  article  which  iniplie.-i 
»ny  reservation  of  right  on  the  part  of  Great  Dritain.  And 
docs  not  the  stipulation  itself,  in  virtue  of  wliich  she  was 
hound  to  restore  it,  demoiislrate,  that  at  the  date  of  that 
treaty  she  had  no  pretensions  to  the  mouth  of  ('olumbia.' 
If  she  then  had  any  claim,  would  she  have  lontracted  to  re- 
store the  possession  uiicoiulitionally,  and  without  even  the 
formnhty  of  a  reservation  of  her  right.'  The  course  which 
was  adopted  in  regard  to  anothiT  territorial  possession, 
claimed  iiy  bo«h  parties,  wan  very  diflhrrnt.  She  had  re- 
duced, by  her  arms,  Moose  Island,  in  tin'  Bay  of  I'assaina- 
quoddy,  as  well  as  the  |io-it  at  t'olumhia.  She  refused  to  re- 
store Moose  Island,  on  the  ground  of  thi^  title  which  slut  set 
up  to  it,  as  being  included  within  the  limits  of  Nova  Hcotia ; 
and  the  respective  titles  of  both  parties  w-eie  asjrecd  to  be 
referred  to  a  board  of  commissioners.  Now,  if,  with  respect 
to  two  poasessidtis,  taken  by  her  arms  during  the  war,  she 
agreed  to  restore  one  unconditionally,  and  insisted  upon  re 
taining  the  oeriipaney  of  the  other,  as  belonging  to  her,  is 
not  the  inference  irresi^titili",  that  her  present  claim  to  that 
which  was  so  restored  did  not  then  exist,  but  has  been  sub- 
sc(|uently  gotten  up.'" 

This  established  our  right  fully  to  the  whole 
valley  drained  by  the  waters  of  the  Columbia, 
and  that  valley  extends  to  about  the  latitude  of 
53°  north.  I  would  like  to  hear  the  grounds  upon 
which  the  advocates  for  the  line  on  the  49th  pai- 
ftllel,  on  the  other  aide  of  the  chamber,  and  tlte 


ir,  never;  n 
f  a  foreign 
ive  this  not 
rotection   ti 
hem  to  go  t 
he  country 
hem  the  pi 
obligation  rested  on  our  Government  to  fix  tlie  ,  will  extend 
boundary  on  49°.     If  the  President  was  bound  :  be  imagined 
in  honor,  as  some  allege,  t.)  have  made  the  offer  j  Mtizens  of  t 
because  similar  offers  had  been  made  by  his  prede-  '  jusly  togeth 
cessors,  then  the  offer  made  by  Mr.  Polk  w^as  dis-     10  different 
honorable,  because  11  did  not  include  the  naviga-  ^heir  respect 
tionof  the  Columbia  river,  as  his  predecessors  had  'Jirbiter,  will 
done;  for  surely,  if  he  was  bound  in  honor  at  all, 
he  was  bound  for  the  v''-"'"-     Besides,  one  of  the 
offers  of  the  navigation  ji    .le  Columbia,  made  by 
his  predecessor,  was  trammelled  with  the  condi- 
tion  that  the  river  should  prove  to  be  naviguiilc 
where  the  parallel  of  49°  struck  it;  in  such  contin- 
gency to  grant  the  free  navigation  to  England,  and 
not  otherwise.    Which  offer,  then,  bound  the  Pres- 
ident.'   The  offer  of  49°,  in  1818,  if  without  the 
navigation  of  the  Columbia,  was  less  objectionable, 


hat  may  an 
uljjccts  oft 
rnment  is  v 
erously  abs 

ithout  dist 
loodshed. 
eem  a  qua 

ark  of  An 
re  that  oui 

ble  to  be  i 


because  we  then  had  not  acquired  the  Spanish  title;  ]  era.  But, 
since  that,  it  has  never  been  called  for  oy  any  just  i  nagined  tin 
regards  to  our  rights  or  the  British  claims.  The  *  overnment 
most  she  ever  could  have  justly  asked  would  have  '•  ludsonBaj 
been  a  division  of  the  residue  of  that  immense  re-  ,  lem.'  Mos 
gion  north  of  the  head  waters  of  the  Columbia,  laim,  we  m 
west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  up  to  the  Rus-  Jurisdiction, 
sian  line,  and  east  of  the  Russian  possession  to  tho  |nust;"  and 
Frozen  Ocean.  And  although  I  deny  that  she  has  Great  Britai 
shown  a  shadow  of  title  to  one  part  of  the  territory  J>f  arrogant 
to  which  our  Spanish  title  extended,  a  fair  division 
of  our  claims  above  53°,  as  derived  iVom  Spain,  and 
her  own,  whatever  tliey  were  north  of  61°,  thrown 
into  hotchpot  by  our  convention  of  1818  and  1827, 
would  give  us  all  up  at  least  to  54°  40',  if  not  far 
beyona. 


cquiesced  i 

Allow  m€ 

lonvention  ( 

ion  of  182' 

nate  to  re 

"  Akt.  3.  It 


15 


M  to  the  Ameri' 
;ive  up  any  por- 
)ia,  thus  shown 
liiim  having  any 
ler  lillc  or  claim, 
luHive  to  lutituile 


I  thon,  Mr,  President,  advocate  the  propriety  of 
vinj;  the  notice  recommended  bv  the  President, 
^irovided  fo»  in  the  convention.  It  can,  of  itself, 
nfford  no  just  cause  of  war;  on  the  contrary,  sir,  it 
is  a  peace  measure,  intended  to  preserve  the  peace 
of  the  country,  and,  in  my  judgment,  the  only 
measure  that  can  do  so.  The  tide  of  emigration 
is  setting  strongly  into  that  territory  now,  and  will 
doubtless  yearly  increase  its  volume.  The  hardy 
soiis  of  the  West,  with  their  wives  and  children, 
and  flocks  and  herds,  already  swurm  on  the  road 
to  Oregon,  and  are  preparing  to  occupy  and  settle 

.,^  ..._  r it;  and  settling,  too,  promiscuously  with  the  Eng- 

I  ciuinot  agree  ilieh  subjects  already  there.  The  partners,  agents, 
compromise  arc  fcnd  servants  of  the  Hudson  Bay  Company  have 
ircfore,  under  the  idottcd  the  whole  country  with  their  stockade  fort.s 
lot  suti'ered  to  be  ind  trading  posts.  They  have  military  posses- 
ec  any  difference  %ion,  and  have  the  British  laws  already  extended 
in  this  respect.     Aver  the  country,  not  confined  to  British  subjects 

I  WIlUt       tmtirkn        -dinl«r    in    •A».«a        !.■.«      «..-k»n.>«r.»l..     ^iitnndoil       t/t.     lt\it}ttAa 


in  offer  to  settle 
P, "  in  deference 
Is  predecessors," 
^mtnt  here  that 
iugh  withdrawn; 
id  by  his  prcde- 


'tinly  in  terms,  but  apparently  intended  to  include 
11   within   the  country.      (^fotwilll»tnlnling   the 
ritish  Minister  says  those  laws  are  intended  only 
'or  their  own  subjects.)     But,  Mr.  President,  what 
ssuraice  do  we  have  that  she  will  not  claim  all 
hat  have  been  born  within  her  dominions  as  her 
itizcns,  under  her  long  asserted  principle  that  no 
ne  of  her  subjects  can  throw  on  bis  allegiance, 
an  expatriate  himself.     Must  our  citizens  carry 
vidence  to  show  that  they  were  native  born  ?    No, 
ir,  never;  and  neither  will  they  submit  to  the  laws 
f  a  foreign  Power.     Whether  wc  do  or  do  not 
ive  this  notice,  we  are  bound  to  furnish  adequate 
rotcction  to  our  citizens.    We  have  encouraged 
hem  to  go  there,  and  the  honor  and  good  faith  of 
he  country  are  pledged  to  protect  them;  we  owe 
hem  the  protection  of  the  American  eiigle,  and 
ill  extend  its  ajgis  over  them.    Then,  sir,  can  it 
le  imagined  that  the  subjects  of  England,  and  the 
itizens  of  the  United  States,  can  live  promiscu- 
usly  together,  subject  to  different  laws,  amenable 
;o  different  magistrates,  and  owing  allegiance  to 
heir  respective  Governments,  without  any  common 
irbiter,  with  no  mode  of  deciding  controversies 
hat  may  arise  between  the  citizens  of  one  and  the 
ubjects  of  the  other  ?    Such  a  double-headed  Gnv- 
rnment  is  wholly  impracticable;  and  it  is  jirepos- 
erously  absurd  to  expect  that  they  ••ould  thus  live 
ithout  disturbance  and  violence,  and  eventually 
loodshed.     If  we  fail,  then,  to  give  the  notice,  I 
eem  a  quarrel  inevitable.     No  one  who  has  a 
lark  of  American  feeling  in  his  bosom,  would  de- 
re  that  our  citiKons  should  be  thus  placed,  and 
ble  to  be  involved  in  such  difficulties,  if  not  dan- 
rs.     But,  sir,  look  a  little  further.     Can  it  be 
lagined  that  our  people,  already  organized  into  a 
ovcrnment  of  their  own,  will   long  permit  the 
udson  Bay  Company  to  exercise  authority  among 
em.>    Most  assuredly   they    will   not.     I   then 
aim,  we  miwt  give  this  notice,  and  have  exclusive 
risdiction,  "  peaceably  if  we  can,  forcibly  if  we 
must;"  and  at  the  expiration  of  twelve  months, 
(feny  that  she  liaa  Great  Britain  will  possess  no  other  claim  than  that 
art  of  the  territory  J)f  arrogant  pretension,  already  too  long  tacitly 
icquiesccd  in  by  the  American  ])eople. 

Allow  me,  sir,  to  refer  to  the  third  article  of  the 

invention  of  20th  October,  1818,  and  the  conven- 

ion  of  1827,  which  I   beg  the  indulgence  of  the 

nate  to  read: 

^  "  Art.  3.  It  ia  agreed  that  any  conntry  that  may  be  claim- 


nation 
:)ffer  of  a  conces- 
inst  her  will  and 
3on  her,  accepted 
eorgia  [Mr.  Ber- 
apply  to  nations, 
arbiter.  1  deem 
'  rule,  as  applica- 
.ipon  such  a  con- 
ey, to  encourage 

avoid  litigation; 
;spect  to  nations, 
ons  do  now  have 

and  judgment  of 
1  arbiters  between 
^Led  Governmentii 
)ld,  then,  that  no 
nnient  to  fix  tlie 
dent  was  bound 
ve  made  the  offer 
lade  by  his  prede- 
^Ir.  Polk  was  dis- 
elude  the  naviga- 

predecessors  had 
id  in  honor  at  all, 
esidcs,  one  of  the 
}lumbia,  made  by 

with  the  condi- 
to  be  navigable 
it;  m  such  coniin- 
n  to  England,  and 
n,  bound  the  Pres- 
18,  if  without  the 

CSS  objectionable, 
I  the  Spanish  title; 
od  for  uy  any  iusi 
tish  claims.  The 
asked  would  have 

that  immense  re- 
of  the  Columbia, 
nd  up  to  the  Ilus- 
1  possession  to  the 


lied,  a  fair  division 
ad  from  Stiain ,  and 
rth  of  61°,  thrown 
of  1818  and  1827, 
54°  40',  if  not  far 


nd  by  oithnr  party  on  (be  northwest  eoaxt  of  Americn,  west- 
ward of  the  fltiiny  MounUiins,  (now  callnJ  Rocky  MoudI- 
iiiii!!,)  shall,  tojRthcr  with  its  Imrliors,  liay.<,  and  cri'.itkn,  and 
the  iiiivifpilioiinrall  rivcn<  within  tlirfiamo,lH!  free  and  open, 
for  till!  tiTiii  nftRn  yonm  fVnin  tlindnt«n,'theKignature  of  the 
prissent  ronviintion,  to  the  viwM-ls,  riliziins,  mid  Hiibjccts  of 
till!  two  I'owcn ;  it  boing  will  understood  tliut  Uiia  agreement 
in  not  to  he  eonstrur.d  to  Uic  prejudice  of  any  el.tiiii  which 
either  of  thi!  two  high  oimtraotiiig  pirtici  may  have  to  imy 
part  of  said  country,  nnr  Khali  it  ho  tnkui  U:  affect  the  elaimn 
of  any  other  Power  or  StaUi  to  any  (Mirt  of  the  !^aid  country; 
the  only  object  of  tlie  high  contriictiiig  parties,  in  that  re- 
spect, being  to  prevent  disputeH  and  diir'!rence9  among  them- 
selvea." 

(Mtivcntion  helireen  the  United  Stntm:tvi  Great  Britnin, signed 
at  Lonhn,  ,4u;iu(6, 1MJ7. 

■'  Art.  I  All  tliR  prptrisiomi  of  the  third  article  of  the  con- 
vention concluded  between  the  United  Htaten  of  Americn 
and  his  Miyesiy  the  King  of  the  (Tiiitcd  Kingdom  o,' Great 
iiritaiii  and  Ireland,  on  tin;  ailtli  of  OctobiT,  18IK.  shall  be, 
and  lliey  are  hcriihy,  further  iiidelinitely  extcndcil  and  con- 
tinued in  force.  In  the  lume  manner  lu  if  all  the  proviaiona 
of  the  Hiiid  article  were  herein  Hpecifically  recited. 

"  AnT.  a.  It  shall  be  competent,  however,  to  either  of  the 
coiitra<-ting  piirtiea,  in  ea«e  either  should  think  fit,  at  any 
time  artir  tlie  2(Hh  Oelolier,  IftJH,  on  giving  due  iiotiue  of 
twelve  months  to  ttie  other  contracting  party,  to  annul  and 
abrogate  tliis  convention ;  and  it  shall,  in  sueli  case,  bo  ac- 
conliiialy  entirely  annull'd  and  abrogated,  after  tlic  expira- 
tion of  the  said  tenii  of  notice. 

"  Art.  ;t.  Nothing  cont;iini'd  in  thin  convention,  or  in  tJic 
third  nrti<le  of  the  convi!ntion  of  Uie  'JOth  October,  I8IH, 
hereby  continued  in  force,  shall  be  eonstriied  to  impair,  or 
i  n  any  manner  alTect,  the  claims  which  either  of  the  eontract- 
ing  parties  may  have  to  any  pirt  of  tlic  country  westward  of 
the  Hlony  or  Rooky  Mountains." 

In  my  legal  construction  of  this  language,  I  can- 
not sen  where  we  get  the  authority  to  settle  this 
u  rritory  at  all,  and  keep  good  faith  with  England,  if 
we  consider  the  convention  in  force.  In  1818  Ore- 
gon was  a  wilderness,  and  all  we  then  wanted  waa 
to  have  the  country,  ns  well  as  the  harbors,  bays, 
and  creeks,  "free  and  o/ien"  to  the  subjects  of  one, 
and  the  citizens  of  the  other;  and  no  one  had  a  right 
to  "appropriate"  any  portion  of  the  country  exclu- 
sively to  his  own  use;  but  if  the  country  remains 
free  and  open  to  the  citizens  of  both  nations,  how 
can  we  have  a  right  to  send  our  people,  with  their 
wives  and  children,  to  occupy  and  settle  it?  I  do 
not  think  that  we  have  such  a  right,  unless  we  dis- 
regard the  convention  on  the  ground  that  it  has 
been  already  violated  by  Great  Britain;  then  we 
may  go  on  and  settle  it,  and  builu  forts,  and  extend 
our  laws  over  it,  for  the  convention  is  abrogated, 
in  fact,  at  this  very  hour.  Butif  we  hold  t'.iat  it  is 
.''till  in  force,  how  the  "masterly-inactivity  "scheme 
of  the  gentleman  from  South  Carolina  [Mr.  Cal- 
houn] can  be  carried  out  in  good  failk,  I  cannot 
imagine.  If  the  country  is,  by  the  tenns  and  spirit 
of  the  convention,  to  be  kept  "free  and  open,  we 
have  no  right  to  locate  there,  and  close  it  up  wiiii 
settlements;  and  I  ask  whether,  in  two  years  from 
this  time,  the  Willamette  valley  will  be  "free  and 
open"  to  the  citizens  of  one,  and  the  subjects  of  the 
other .'  No,  sir,  it  will  all  be  occupied  and  settled 
by  the  enterprising  citizens  of  the  VVest,  to  the  ex- 
clusion of  British  subjects.  I  do  not  make  this  sug- 
gestion with  a  view  to  prevent  emigration.  I  insist 
that  our  people  have  a  full  right  to  go  and  settle 
there,  because,  in  fact,  the  convention  has  been  al- 
ready nullified  by  England  herself;  if  not,  let  us 
give  the  notice  at  once,  before  they  do  settle.  We 
owe  it  to  them,  and  we  owe  it  to  the  world,  and  to 
our  own  good  faith,  openly  to  declare  the  abroga- 
tion of  the  conventioiT,  in  order  that  we  may  aetlla 
the  country  rightfully.  _  _         ^ 


16 


Bui,  Mr.  President,  I  will  not  enlarge.  I  wish 
for  the  notice  to  be  given;  but  I  cannot  vole  for  the 
resolution  introduced  by  the  gentleman  from  Ken- 
lucky,  [Mr.  Crittenden,]  fur  two  reuHons — first, 
because  it  devolves  on  the  President  the  discretion 
of  giving  the  notice.  1  om  quite  willing  to  take  my 
share  of  the  responsibility,  and  not  ca.st  it  on  the 
President.  Congress  nionc  should  determine  such 
an  important  matter,  although  I  have  entire  confi- 
dence in  our  Chief  Magi.strale,  and  have  no  doubt, 
if  this  resolution  should  pass,  he  would  exercise 
"his  discretion"  by  giving  immediate  notice.  And 
the  second  reason,  because  ihis  resolution  contem- 
plates that  the  President  shall  not  give  the  notice  till 
afler  ihe  expiration  of  the  present  session  of  Con- 
gress. I  have  heard  no  one  suggest  the  difficulty 
which  presents  itself  to  my  mind. 

If  the  President  gives  the  notice,  as  proposed 
by  this  amendment,  I  can  see  no  reason  why  the 
British  Minister  may  not,  on  the  very  next  day, 
sny  to  the  Presidenti  "  We  do  not  want  tho  twelve 
months'  notice  before  the  expiration  of  the  con- 
vention; the  allowance  of  that  interval  is  intend- 
ed for  the  advantage,  and  as  a  privilege  to  us  as 
the  party  to  whom  the  notice  is  given,  and  we 
can  waive  the  privilege  if  we  choose;  we  do 
waive  it,  and  insist  that  the  matter  shall  stand 
now  as  it  would  stand  at  the  end  of  twelve 
months."  Suppose  the  British  Minister  should 
insist  on  this :  I  want  to  know  how  you  could 
avoid  it.' — how  you  could  claim  that  the  convention 
should  not  be  abrogated  at  once,  and  not  be  defer- 
red for  twelve  months?  I  confess  I  do  not  see 
how  it  would  be  possible  to  guard  against  such  a 
contingency;  ancl  therefore  I  wish  notice  to  be 
given  while  Congress  is  in  session.  If  war  should 
come,  I  should  not  like  to  be  "  Copenhagened'' 
at  any  rate;  but  if  such  attempt  is  to  be  made,  I 
should  choose  that  Congress  should  be  in  session 
at  the  time, 

And,  sir,  I  cannot  vote  for  the  amendment  pro- 
posed by  the  Senator  from  Georgia,  not  only  for 
the  reasons  I  have  urged  against  tlie  resolutions  of 
the  gentleman  fromKentucKy,  [Mr.  Crittenden,] 
but  also  on  account  of  the  second  resolution,  which 
I  beg  the  indulgence  of  the  Senate  to  read: 

"  Sec.  9.  %ind  be  it  further  macteA,  Tlint  it  is  earncsUy 
desired  thut  tlic  Iong-8taiiilin%  cnntrovtTsy  r(^sprctiii7  limit:! 
in  the  Oregon  territory  lie  cpetMlily  settliid  by  iicgotiaUon 
nnd  compromise,  in  order  to  tr.inqiillli/.n  tile  public  mind, 
and  to  preserve  the  friendly  rclationx  of  tlic  two  eountricrt. " 

Now,  sir,  every  Senator  knows  that  the  recom- 
mendation of  notice  by  the  President  was  not  made 
as  a  war  measure,  but  to  preserve  the  peace  of  the 
country;  and  the  Senator,  I  believe,  honestly  sup- 
posed that  his  amendment  wou' '  be  a  means  of 
carrying  out  the  wishes  of  the  _  .  esident.  Yet, 
according  to  my  conception,  it  will  certainly  defeat 
the  object  the  gentleman  had  in  view.  If  it  is  sent, 
in  its  present  form,  to  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives, it  will  most  certainly  be  rejected  there;  and 


then  there  will  be  no  notice  given,  and  the  uliimtttf 
con.sequences  of  that  will  cndanfrcr  the  peace  of 
the  two  countries.  For  this  notice  is  tlie  only 
measure,  in  my  judgment,  that  can  preserve  peace, 
I  go  for  it  US  a  [leace  measure,  though  I  am  ready 
to  use  it  as  a  war  measure,  too,  if  thai  shall  be 
needed.  If  that  amendment  is  carried  in  this  cham- 
ber, it  vt  ill  be  carried  by  a  small  fraction  of  the 
Democ:auc  party,  with  the  help  of  all  the  Whigs; 
and  then  it  is  sure  to  be  rejecteil  in  the  olher 
House. 

By  referring  to  the  protocol  of  the  sixth  confer- 
ence, in  the  ncirotiations  of  1844,  it  will  be  seen  to 
contain  the  following  declaration  by  the  British 
Ministert 

"  Thru  he  did  not  feci  niithorized  In  enter  into  disrui<.slon 
rejpootinstne  territory  north  of  the  49th  parallel  of  Intltude* 
whioli  wiiH  underiilood  by  the  Hritisli  Uovcrnment  to  form 
the  buyiK  of  neuiitiation  on  the  Hide  of  the  United  titatcs, 
HR  th<!  line  of  the  Columbia  foniied  that  on  the  side  of  Creat 
Britain." 

This  language  has  never  been  retracted  by  the 
British  Minister.  He  says  he  will  not  negotiate 
respecting  the  country  north  of  49°;  and  we  say 
we  will  not  negotiate  to  settle  the  boundary  on  the 
north  bank  of  flie  Columbia.  While  the  two  Gov- 
ernments stand  thus.  Congress  says  that  it  is  our 
earnest  desire  to  cflect  a  settlement  by  compromise. 
But  what  will  compromise  be  held  to  mean.'  One 
offers  49°  the  olher  insists  on  the  Columbia; — a 
compromise  will  be  n  division  of  the  country  some- 
where between  these  two  lines.  Thai  will  be  Ihe 
fair  construction  of  the  term.  I  know  that  the 
Senator  from  Georgia  means  no  such  thing,  yet 
that  would  be  the  construction  put  upon  it  by  the 
British  Minister;  and  it  would  be  a  legitimate  con- 
struction. And  will  any  Senator  consent  to  pass 
it  under  such  circumstances .'  Will  any  gentleman 
put  such  an  instrument  into  the  hands  of  the  Brit- 
ish Minister.'  Does  any  man  here  wisih  to  see  a 
compromise  on  a  boundary  south  of  49^?  Is  there 
any  man  who  would  not  rather  go  to  war  ?  I  am 
sure  there  is  not.  No  gentleman  on  either  side  of 
the  chamber  would  consent  to  such  a  result,  or 
even  dare  to  advocate  it. 

I  conclude  with  expressing  my  hope  that  the 
Senate  will  puss  this  notice.  Whether  it  shall  re- 
sult in  war  or  peace,  we  owe  the  measure  to  our- 
selves and  to  the  country;  and  1  hope  it  will  pass 
untrammelled  by  any  condition  which  shall  en- 
danger it  in  the  olher  House.  I  should  prefer  the 
bare,  naked  notice,  as  reported  from  the  Committee 
on  Foreign  Relations;  but  ratlier  than  send  the  sub- 
ject back  to  the  other  House  again,  I  will  vote  for 
the  House  resolutions,  with  the  expectation  and 
hope  that  we  shall  thus  preserve  the  peace  of  the 
country;  but  if  disappointed  in  this  reasonable 
expectation,  and  war  comes,  with  the  intention  of 
giving  it  the  fullest  support  in  my  power,  nnd  leave 
the  consequences  to  Him  who  liolds  Ihe  dcstinictf 
of  individuals  and  nalions  in  His  hand, 

-"-■■    '    'i-'j'i-,:-''  I'     • 

:  ■■-.,'    -,f  ■,  I  ■(•■■I  ,'  '  A 


.,'"  I. 


:M 


^'jh  ■>'* ' 


I  li.lf  ,1(1  •jo;  ^(jr  l,«iei  ' 


,  and  (he  uttim&tf 
rifyer  the  peace  of 
jtice  ia  the  only 
in  preserve  peace, 
lough  I  am  ready 
if  that  shall  be 
ried  in  thischam- 
II  fraction  of  the 
of  all  the  Whigs) 
ted  in   the  other 

the  sixth  confer- 
it  will  be  seen  to 
1  by  the  British 

nnter  into  ilisiciinslon 
1  parallel  of  IntUudei 
Hovernment  to  form 
'  tlie  United  Htotes, 
(III  the  side  of  (ircat 

retracted  by  the 
rill  not  negotiate 
4D°;  and  we  say 

boundary  on  the 
hilc  the  two  Gov- 
ays  that  it  is  our 
thy  compromise, 
d  to  mean?  One 
he  Columbia; — u 
he  country  some- 

That  will  be  the 
I  know  that  the 
I  such  thing,  yet 
It  upon  it  by  the 

a  legitimate  con- 
r  consent  to  pass 
ill  any  gentleman 
lands  of  the  Brit- 
ere  wish  to  see  a 
of  49°?  Is  there 
;o  to  war  ?    I  am 

on  either  side  of 
such  a  residt,  or 

ly  hope  that  the  ; 
licther  it  shall  re- 
:  measure  to  our- 1 
hope  it  will  pass 
which  shall  en-| 
should  prefer  the  ' 
m  the  Committee  l 
ban  send  the  sub- ; 
n,  I  will  vote  for 
expectation  and  l 
the  peace  of  the  | 
this  reasonable  i 
I  the  intention  of  j 
power,  and  leave  i 
olds  the  destinies  I 
hand. 


mvwst.m'f^tm 


